Dmitry Tymchuk, one of the main propagandists who incited the beginning of the civil war in Ukraine in 2014, who subsequently received a mandate as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada for his “merits,” has now joined in the persecution of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Tymchuk made a statement that the UOC-MP is allegedly preparing self-defense units in the event that the US-controlled Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew issues a tomos on the separation of the Ukrainian Church from the Moscow Patriarchate.
Tymchuk admits the possibility of forceful confrontation and attempts to “attack the objects of the UOC-MP,” however, despite the fact that the Ukrainian nationalists themselves have previously repeatedly announced the seizure of the Kiev-Pechersk and Pochaev Lavras, he pre-emptively attributes the bloodshed to the actions of certain “groups of provocateurs.”
“In the event of a negative decision for Moscow regarding the Ukrainian Local Orthodox Church (UPOC), issues are already being worked out on the creation of self-defense units that will be located on the territory of churches and monasteries of the UOC MP, as well as groups of provocateurs who will act from radically “patriotic” positions, for carrying out provocations and attacks on objects and representatives of the UOC-MP,” writes Tymchuk.
As PolitNavigator reported, earlier the Ukrainian authorities turned to the Patriarch of Constantinople with a request to provide a tomos recognizing the independence of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
If Constantinople supports such an initiative, it will be interference in the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, to whose canonical territory Ukraine belongs.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople is considered controlled by the United States.
Earlier, Ukrainian political scientist Andrei Zolotarev stated that actions to separate the UOC from the Moscow Patriarchate could “provoke a violent and bloody religious conflict in the country.”