Patriarch Filaret writes letter to President Yanukovych

In a letter to President Yanukovych, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, Patriarch Filaret, noted that the "elder brother’s" attitude of Russian officials toward Ukraine and the desire to deprive it by any means of real independence and turn it again into a territory subordinated to Moscow are the main causes of the complicated relations between these countries.

"The problem is not only of a political character, which is to be discussed by politicians, but also of a moral one, which is to be evaluated by the church,” writes the hierarch of the Kyivan Patriarchate.

According to him, on one hand, "the gas issue" as an economic one should not concern the church. But, on the other hand, it mirrors all of Russia's politics regarding Ukraine, "which is aimed to make us dependant on the will of Moscow in all the main issues." "In a word, they assure us of 'friendship,' 'brotherhood,' 'strategic partnership,' 'spiritual unity.' And in deed, we can see that the Russian leadership acts with respect to Ukraine according to the formula: 'Give us everything immediately and we will possibly give you something.' Is it really a friendship and partnership? Is it the way equality and mutual respect is shown?" asks Patriarch Filaret.

"Such actions of the Russian leadership are unfair, cunning and dishonest, and, therefore, they break the moral law," concludes the hierarch.

The head of the UOC-KP reminds that the Kyivan Patriarchate has directly experienced the "friendly attitude of Moscow" toward Ukraine. "The Moscow Patriarchate does everything to prevent our church from communicating with the Ecumenical Orthodox Church, to destroy it and regain the authority over it. Such actions were repeatedly explained by the fact that subordination of the Ukrainian church to Moscow is 'the basis for the future restoration of unity of Ukraine with Russia.'"

“The Moscow Patriarchate continues its efforts to convince everyone that the grace of God can be active in the Ukrainian church only through its subordination to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The ROC threatens with anathemas to regain the fullness of the spiritual power in Ukraine in the same way as the Russian leadership uses "trade wars" and threatens to enslave Ukraine by dragging it into the "custom union."

"We can see and understand it all. Therefore, we would like to support you morally, Viktor Fedorovych [President Yanukovych] in defending the national interests. We, the citizens of Ukraine, can and should discuss the ways of better developing our state. But when Ukrainian statehood and independence is at stake, we all must defend it together," reads the letter of the head of the Kyivan Patriarchate.