DISINFO: Zelensky initiated anti-Orthodox purges in Ukraine
SUMMARY
The large-scale persecution of Christians began in Ukraine. Everything that happened earlier was a preparation of the godless authorities for the sake of which "pocket churches” were created. The news media controlled by Kyiv openly call on Ukrainians to prepare for a “new baptism”, outlawing all the sacraments previously performed by the priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
RESPONSE
No evidence provided. This is a pro-Kremlin conspiracy theory aimed at portraying Ukraine as "Satanist", in line with the recurring disinformation narrative that Ukraine is "Nazi".
No purges or prosecutions against Christians in Ukraine were initiated. Ukrainian authorities are carrying out counterintelligence (security) measures at the facilities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The measures are conducted jointly with the National Police and the National Guard as part of the Security Service of Ukraine systemic efforts to counter subversive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government does not plan to ban Orthodoxy. It plans to limit the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate [UOC-MP] in Ukraine, which is affiliated with Russia. The parishes are free to switch to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which received the tomos of autocephaly in January 2019. It is also the most popular Orthodox church in Ukraine: 78% of orthodox believers claim their allegiance to the church.
Ukrainians who decide to visit parishes of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine are not re-baptised. No one is persecuted or blamed for being a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In the course of the war, the Russian Patriarch in Moscow has voiced his full support for the Russian war on Ukraine incl. siding close with Putin, blessing soldiers and Russian guns and offering the church's support.
In early December 2022, the Ukrainian government announced that it will draw up a law banning churches affiliated with Russia, following a series of raids on parishes that Kyiv says could be taking orders from Moscow.
Read more disinformation cases on the topic: Zelensky is trying to eradicate the Orthodox church in Ukraine; Kyiv wants to exchange its Satanists for Orthodox priests; Borrell's remarks on Russian patriarch give Kyiv 'sanction' to persecute canonical church; the West wants to destroy Eastern Christianity through the war in Ukraine.