The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate still denies military aggression on the part of Russia.
The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy said this in an interview with Radio Svoboda (Liberty), RBC-Ukraine reports.
"It is clear that there is a Ukrainian, recognized, local Church of Ukraine, and there is a church whose center is located in the aggressor country. Tell me, who will this church work for? They only call themselves the "Ukrainian Orthodox Church". But this is not really the case. They are an integral part of the Russian Orthodox Church. And if the governing centre is located in Moscow, whom will they listen to, and whose instructions will they follow?" said the Metropolitan.
He also recalled that representatives of the UOC-MP still call the war in eastern Ukraine a "civil war".
"They have never called Russia an aggressor state," Epifaniy stressed.
At the same time, he recalled, when the Russian-Ukrainian war burst out, the priests of the UOC-MP even refused to bury our soldiers and only recently began to agree to the funeral service of the heroes.
The head of the OCU also noted that now the Russian Federation, represented by Putin, is trying to introduce a virus of fear into Ukrainian society, which destroys society from within. Our chaplains are also successfully fighting this problem.
"OCU chaplains now play a very important role in providing spiritual support to our servicemen. Therefore, the Russian Federation is trying to introduce this virus of fear not only in Ukrainian society but also among military personnel. And now we are called upon to support our Ukrainian soldiers even more spiritually in the face of the threat of this Russian aggression," Primate Epifaniy concluded.