The Russian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch Kirill is an outspoken cheerleader for the Russian invasion. Why would Ukraine tolerate a religion led by someone who is supporting the invasion and subjugation of your country?
Only 4% of Ukrainians state they belong to the OUC which is a dramatic reversal and a sign that Ukrainians view it as Russian controlled. 54% say they’re affiliated with the OCU instead.
They UOC’s predecessor was an extension of the Soviet state and then Russia. It was a morally bankrupt institution in Soviet times, and elements of it still are. The recent raids on them showed that at least some church officials were Russian spies. Some church officials in the east also have a history of informing Russian soldiers about Ukrainian troop movements.
It’s a security risk to have a church with ties to the security services of your arch enemy. That’s true for any religion, not just the UOC. They’re investigating those ties and individual church officials/monasteries. Unlike the hysteria that they’re going to ban the OUC entirely, they’re not going to. They’ll go after individuals and some of the Russian controlled monasteries. More OUC churches will choose to switch to the OCU because the people want to be affiliated with the OCU.
Because probably a lot of these people are of Russian descent and they’re responding to the fact that Zelensky has been persecuting the Russian minority since the beginning.
FReepers are quick to buy the propaganda, but one of the reasons this thing reached the point it did is that Zelensky violated the agreements made with Russia to keep the borderlands neutral (especially since their referendum vote was to rejoin Russia) and not attack Russian descent people living in the Ukraine. Remember the AZOV brigades, the shock troops of Zelensky?
Zelensky was put in place by Biden and is simply doing what he has been paid to do…and Biden doesn’t know what he’s doing, and he and his handlers think that stirring up a war will help them.
Also, please remember that Russia and Zelensky are on different sides on the most crucial matter of our age, in the opinion of the Dems: gays and trans. Russia (and Putin) have attacked this and refuse to go along; Zelensky has trans rainbows coming out of his ears. I don’t think Ukrainians like it, but who cares about them?