"They will try to convince you of persecution," - religious scholar on the "church sanctions list" of the National Security and Defense Council

This was stated on Channel 24 by religious scholar and doctor of philosophy Lyudmila Fylypovych. She claims that some of the priests of the Moscow Patriarchate do not see any violations of their colleagues and will believe that persons from the NSDC list will be persecuted, something was planted on them, or everything was specially arranged.

According to her, they have already begun to disperse such a popular "image of the Martyr Church" in the shrines of the UOC-MP. The religious scholar says that the faithful are" instructed "by their priests, who had been telling them tales about "brotherly love" for 30 years.

Lyudmila Fylypovych believes that the priests of the UOC-MP will organize religious processions, wear icons and say to the whole world that in Ukraine, “the Church is being destroyed and the faithful of the Moscow Patriarchate are being killed.”

"But now the situation is interesting – the same Novinsky warned that he would sue and challenge these "NSDC sanctions", and his main argument is not that he betrayed his homeland and "planted" the Russian world here, but that he was "persecuted for his faith", Lyudmila Fylypovych explained.

In her opinion, sanctioned religious persons will now “ring all the bells”. In particular, international organizations say that religious persons are being harassed and persecuted in Ukraine.

"Therefore, we need to explain that these individuals are being persecuted not because they are Orthodox or Christians, but because they misunderstood the instructions that Jesus Christ left and turned orthodoxy into politics," the religious scholar noted.

Lyudmila Fylypovych says that the church should be worked with, and the state should do it. "It is true that the searches conducted by the SBU scared the priests of the Moscow Patriarchate a little. Because they behaved as if there was no war with Russia, how can this be done?" she asks.

The religious scholar noted that believers and clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate should ask themselves whether they are with Ukraine or Russia.

As RISU has reported, the SBU published a list of persons who were included in the "Church list" of NSDC sanctions.

In total, we are talking about 10 defendants who are representatives of the UOC-MP or are closely connected with this organization.

• Vadym Novinsky (UOC cleric);
• Petro Lebid (Metropolitan Pavlo of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, Vicar of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra);
• Shvets Rostislav (Lazar, Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea);
• Volodymyr Udovenko (Platon, Metropolitan of Feodosia and Kerch);
• Opanasenko Vyacheslav (Bishop Agafon of Koktebel);
• Ovsyannikov (Bishop Oleksiy of Dzhankoy and Rozdolne);
• Konstantin Chernyshov (Bishop Kallenik of Bakhchisarai);
• Oleksandr Taranov (Archbishop Arkady of Rovenky and Sverdlovsk);
• Oleg Ivanov (former Metropolitan Elisha of Izyum and Kupyansk);
• Oleksiy Maslennikov (former Metropolitan Joseph of Romensk and Buryn).