UOC-KP warned of possible provocations by supporters of "political orthodoxy"

The press service of the Kyiv Patriarchate, citing numerous publications in the media, warned of the political activities of the supporters of ‘Russian world’ scheduled for June 22, 2014.

Having declared the gathering of participants at 12:00 in the Kyiv Caves Monastery, the organizers planned a prayerful procession in different parts of the central part of Kyiv. “It was planned, as was the case in many previous actions of this type, to protest against Ukraine's European integration and to campaign for unity with Russia with the slogan ‘for peace’’, states the UOC-KP press-service.

The UOC-KP reminded that the use of religious attributes (icons, banners) and forms of worship (procession, prayer) for purely political activities, intended disguise political actions under church slogans, had been condemned by the UOC-MP in 2007, and the leaders of the so-called ‘political orthodoxy’ were subjected to the church ban. Therefore, as the UOC-KP stresses, the event, scheduled for June 22, was in essence a political action under the guise of religious forms and attributes.

The UOC-KP states that in the past similar events had been sponsored by the pro-Russian political forces, as it was attested by the documents that were found and then published online. Obviously, the action scheduled for Sunday was a paid pro-Russian action.

“In Ukraine as a democratic country the citizens have the right to public expression of their beliefs. However, with regard to the experience of deployment of Russian aggression, which also started with rallies and demonstrations in the East and South of Ukraine under pro-Russian slogans and then evolved to escalation of violence and acts of terror, we urge everyone to be vigilant and to prevent realizing this scenario in Kyiv.

Being aware of the close relationship of the leaders of ‘political orthodoxy’ with Russia, we can predict that the main objective of the event on June 22 in Kyiv is a provocation to create information grounds in the spirit of anti-Ukrainian propaganda. Therefore we call on all patriotic forces to be alert and not to fall for provocations”, urges the UOC-KP.

As the press center of the Kyiv Patriarchate stresses, “on the ‘Day of All Saints of the Ukrainian lands, as well as the new martyrs and confessors of the twentieth century’, the day when we remember the Nazi aggression that had brought millions of deaths to our land, let’s raise the prayers in churches for the repose of the souls of the deceased and let us pray for peace in Ukraine and the destruction of all evil designs against our people and state”.