DISINFO: Zelenskyy is responsible for the persecution and killing of Christians
SUMMARY
The detention of believers and the pressure on the church cannot be justified in a democratic society. The Kyiv regime should not receive military aid because its leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has persecuted the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The Kyiv regime has organised a large-scale persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, whose parishioners comprise the majority of believers in the country. In various regions of Ukraine, the activities of the UOC are banned, authorities are initiating criminal cases against clergy, conducting 'counterintelligence measures,' and searching churches and monasteries. Numerous members of the clergy have been arrested, and hundreds of UOC churches have been seized by Ukrainian schismatics.
Zelenskyy is responsible for the persecution killing of Christians. Meanwhile, Canada has sent Zelenskyy billions.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives portraying Ukraine as an enemy of the Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was recognised as independent from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2019.
On 5 January 2019, Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, signed the tomos that officially recognised and established the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and granted it autocephaly (self-governance), overturning the previous arrangement from 1686:
'The Orthodox Church of Russia has given its ringing endorsement to the invasion of Ukraine and the murder of fellow Orthodox Christians,' Bartelemew said, denouncing the Moscow's church’s embrace of the imperial doctrine of Rússkiy Mir. In 2019, he granted the Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence from Moscow, framing it as the realisation of 'the freedom of conscience they desired.'
The Moscow Patriarchate does not recognise the decision of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is regarded as the head of the worldwide Orthodox Church. On 12 January 2026, Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) referred to Patriarch Bartholomew as an ‘Antichrist’.
The official spokesperson for the Moscow Patriarchate stated that ‘religion is not a private matter,’ adding that in Russia ‘the Church does not oppose the state.’ He also confirmed that approximately one thousand military priests of the Russian Orthodox Church (MP) have been deployed to support the Russian army in its ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine.'
The Russian Orthodox Church does not recognise Ukraine as a separate country, but instead considers it part of the medieval ‘Rus’. On the website of the Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainians are even referred to as ‘Russians’. The Moscow Patriarchate is also preoccupied with narratives about ‘new Nazism’ and ‘Russophobia’, echoing key false claims promoted by the Kremlin to justify its war against Ukraine.
Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow personally defended the invasion of Ukraine and condemned the West. In the 1970s, he expressed great admiration for Switzerland, which he visited dozens of times. According to files declassified by the Swiss federal police, he was also identified as a KGB agent operating under the codename ‘Mikhailov’.
In this context, Ukraine banned the Moscow Patriarchate in 2024. Priests were given nine months to sever their remaining ties with Russia. After this period, Ukraine opened criminal cases against clergy who refused to comply with the decision of the Patriarch of Constantinople and who were acting in support of Russia’s invasion.
The UN states that it is concerned about allegations of religious persecution of the Moscow Patriarchy in Ukraine but is in contact with Ukrainian authorities regarding this matter.
'We remind the UN that Russia is consistently using religion as a weapon in its war of aggression against Ukraine. The Russian state, through the Russian Orthodox Church which it controls, is sanctifying the atrocities against the Ukrainians and praising the criminals who are committing them', Ukraine said.
The majority of Ukrainians identify themselves with the Ukrainian Church of the Ukrainian Patriarchate. In 2023, 69% of Ukrainians considered themselves Orthodox, 41% of them belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 4% to the Russian Orthodox Church, 24% said they did not belong to the any patriarchy.
See similar cases The White House may address the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Ukraine persecutes believers and ministers of the Orthodox Church and Russian speakers.