Kyiv: Orthodox Church should declare Vladimir Putin is Satan
- Ukrainian National Security Council official calls Russia’s Putin ‘Satan’, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill a ‘devil’
- Ukrainian authorities continue to suspect the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of collaboration with Moscow
In the dispute over whether the Orthodox Church should remain in the world-famous Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv, the Ukrainian leadership has strongly urged the church to distance itself from Moscow.
“If you have no relations with Russia, then officially say goodbye, say that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is Satan,” National Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov demanded of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on television on Tuesday.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill is also a devil, Danilov added.
Until May, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate.
At that time, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church officially renounced Moscow and condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine ordered by Putin.
However, the Ukrainian authorities continue to suspect the church of collaboration with Moscow. The organisation’s premises have been searched several times.
The church’s rental contract for the historic Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv was terminated at the turn of the year. As a result, the head of the monastery, Metropolitan Pavel Lebed, turned to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with criticism and a request to stay.
