The Ukrainian state does not fight the Church as a religious institution. Law enforcement officers investigate the activities of individuals who harm national security.
According to Ukrinform, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said this in an interview with the Voice of America, commenting on the destructive work of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
“I want to note that we are not fighting the Church as a religious institution. Today we are making a decision on the persons directly involved in this process. And if the SBU, which conducts these processes, believes that this or that person is dangerous for our country, then we make appropriate decisions, and we do not care whether a person in a cassock, or in Brioni, or in some other clothes. This will apply to any people who support the Russian Federation, who help it today and harm our national security,” Danilov said.
He noted that the SBU has opened criminal proceedings and is investigating crimes for each participant in the process. Also, according to Danilov, the problem around representatives of the UOC-MP has not been solved for 30 years.
"My personal vision: unfortunately, we did not pay attention to this problem for 30 years and allowed certain elements to behave in our country as they did. But they had at one time, especially after February 24, to take the side of our country, to completely abandon everything Russian, if it was there, to put an end to this issue. Unfortunately, not everyone did. And those who did not do this or will not do it will have consequences directly for themselves,” the NSDC Secretary stressed.