UOC-MP creates network of Russian influences among Ukrainians in Germany, - UGCC head Sviatoslav
Pro-Russian oligarchs who fled Ukraine for Germany, together with Moscow priests, are actively building a network of Russian influences among Ukrainians in the new diaspora.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych, said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Censor.NET reports.
"But where our leaders of Ukrainian communities speak about this directly is in Germany. The pro-Russian oligarchs fled from Ukraine to Germany. And they are using Russian money to create a parallel Ukrainian community there, to which they are trying to lure Russian-speaking Ukrainians, in particular," Sviatoslav said.
Sviatoslav stressed that this poses a threat to the Ukrainian community abroad and to Ukrainian diplomacy, which is struggling to counter the manipulations of Russian influences. In response, the UGCC is trying to create its own support network, providing pastoral care to Ukrainians in the Ukrainian language to counter such interference.
"We feel that people are drawn to their church. And sometimes we underestimate the role for our victory played by those people who, by force of circumstances, found themselves abroad," he said.
It is worth noting that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recently passed a law banning religious organisations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Security Service of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings against more than 100 priests of the UOC-MP, some of whom have already received court sentences.
