Posted on 07/03/2025 2:30:33 PM PDT by bimboeruption
In a move that has sparked outrage among religious communities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has escalated his administration’s campaign against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), a cornerstone of spiritual life for millions of Ukrainians.
The latest blow came when Zelensky signed a decree stripping the revered 80-year-old leader of the UOC, of his Ukrainian citizenship, according to Ukraine’s SBU security service agency.
The SBU claims Onufriy, also known as Orest Berezovsky, acquired Russian citizenship in 2002, a charge the metropolitan has denied. In April 2023, Onufriy admitted to briefly holding a Russian passport but insisted he relinquished it, affirming his loyalty to Ukraine.
“I spoke out against Russia’s war with Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression. I consider myself a citizen only of Ukraine,” he declared. Despite this, the Zelensky government has used a new law on multiple citizenship, which flags Russian passport holders for denaturalization, to target the cleric.
For years, Zelensky’s administration has waged a relentless campaign against the UOC, Ukraine’s largest religious body, citing its historical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. These ties, which date back to the era of Imperial Russia, have been weaponized to justify a sweeping crackdown.
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the SBU reports that over 100 UOC clergy have faced criminal probes for alleged collaboration with Russian forces or spreading pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Nearly 50 have been charged, with 26 convictions handed down.
The government’s actions extend beyond legal measures. Supporters of the state-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), established in 2019 with recognition from the Patriarch of Constantinople, have seized UOC properties, often with apparent impunity.
The UOC has decried these moves as state-sponsored persecution, arguing that its canonical independence from Moscow, in place since the 1990s, renders such accusations baseless. The SBU, however, alleges Onufriy actively resisted efforts to sever ties with the Moscow Patriarchy, a claim the UOC disputes.
This controversy has drawn international condemnation. The United Nations and human rights groups have accused Ukraine of violating religious freedom, particularly after a 2024 law that threatens to ban the UOC unless it fully cuts spiritual links with Russia.
Critics argue this overreach undermines Ukraine’s democratic credentials, even as it seeks Western support against Russian aggression.
For conservatives, this crackdown raises troubling questions about the balance between national security and religious liberty. The UOC, a vital institution for Ukraine’s faithful, faces an existential threat from a government that appears willing to sacrifice freedom of worship on the altar of political expediency.
As Metropolitan Onufriy’s case illustrates, loyalty to Ukraine is no shield against a regime determined to reshape the nation’s religious landscape.
He got rid of the Russia Orthodox Church, and now he's going after the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Tell me again, how is he better than Putin?
I did not Nazi that coming.
The European elites hate Christianity and they are the ones paying for Zelenskyy’s gold and yachts. He’s a puppy on a leash and will do what he is told to do.
Zelenksy, a Jew, is waging war against Christian churches. Imagine if a Christian leader was shutting down synagogues.
Treasonous individuals in the UOC always trying to falsely shift the issue as one against the UOC altogether when it is about them individually.
Ping
There’s the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, controlled by Russia.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Orthodox_Church_(Moscow_Patriarchate)
Then there is the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Church_of_Ukraine
The OCU broke from the UOC because Ukrainians didn’t want their church controlled by the people invading them. Both of them believe the same thing, the only difference is who manages it.
The same thing happened after the end of the Revolutionary War when the Episcopalians broke from the Anglican Church. Americans didn’t want their King of England to run their church.
“Ukrainian Government Targets Orthodox Church in Controversial Crackdown”
What’s controversial about it? Given that the country SHELLS its own civilians (between 2014 and 2022), taking down the church is child’s play.
Zeepers love when Greasy cracks down on Christians.
He just slaughters and imprisons his own citizens in the Dunbas.
Civilians Killed in Donbas 2014-2022
Civilian casualties in the Donbas between 2014 and 2022 is estimated to be around 3,404, including 306 foreign civilians.
Funny thing is, Mr Z is himself ethnic Russian.
He used that in the elections to get the ethnic Russians to back him. That’s why he carried the Eastern part of Ukraine!
Better yet, he ran on a “peace” platform. LOL
He “pretends” not to speak Russian well and doesn’t know words or misspeaks at times (sometimes that’s obviously fake). In truth, he speaks perfect Russian.
He’s a little Jew that that never served in the military but does like to run around like an action hero in olive drab (Even at the White House) and have his picture taken in full military battle rattle.
He’s a traitor to his people. Having a billion dollars in the bank and his own yacht means more to him than any loyalty to his heritage. He couldn’t care less if his war with Russia eliminated the Russian people completely.
If Putin wants to make it personal, he should sink Z’s yacht.
There still is the conspiracy theory that I give some credibility to that we did this intentionally.
Instead of a gamble gone wrong, instead of bad policy, we intentionally created a situation where we KNEW a war would ensue in the hopes of weakening our primary competitor on the world stage.
Think about this!!!
Ukraine does near all the bleeding, the Euros flip half the bill, and we walk away with a Russia that has a hard time holding onto Libya, Syria, Venezuela, that basically to maintain control over their backyard has to surrender all their frontier states to us.
If that is the case, while totally evil, it does show strategic (long range and global) thought. Instead of clowns that just sort of bumbled our way into a war, we played a game of chess where Ukraine was the pawn.
Women and children, and it's no wonder The Putin felt compelled to liberate the Dumbas. He saved countless innocent lives.
I think the powers behind our politicians are acting very methodical. Our politicians are largely pawns, allowed through the gate because they are willing to fulfill the desires of those funding them. You don’t get anywhere in politicians, or industry or media, without being corruptible.
My general assumption is that if a person has gotten to the heights of areas where they can control culture, they were allowed in. Uncorruptible people aren’t allowed through the gate.
It takes a very rare person to become significant without being corruptible.
—> Zelensky doesn’t make his opposition or Ukraine’s opposition disappear.
……….
AI offers this commentary…
…multiple members of Ukraine’s political opposition have died, suffered suspicious accidents, or disappeared, particularly since 2014. Notable cases include:
• Andriy Portnov, a former Ukrainian parliament member and deputy head in the administration of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, was shot dead in Madrid in May 2025. Portnov had a complex political history, having served both pro-Western and pro-Russian factions. His assassination is part of a broader pattern of violence against Russia-aligned or opposition figures from Ukraine since the 2022 escalation of the war. The exact motive behind his killing remains unclear, with speculation ranging from political revenge to criminal disputes.
• In 2015, at least 10 opposition politicians and journalists died under suspicious circumstances in Ukraine. These included:
• Oleg Kalashnikov, a former Rada deputy and member of Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, who was shot dead in his home in April 2015.
• Oles Buzyna, a pro-Russian journalist and opposition figure, was gunned down outside his home in Kyiv the day after Kalashnikov’s murder.
• Other opposition figures, such as Oleksandr Peklushenko (former regional governor), Stanislav Melnyk (ex-MP), Mykhaylo Chechetov (former deputy chairman of Yanukovych’s party), Serhiy Valter (mayor of Melitopol), Oleksiy Kolesnyk (ex-head of Kharkiv’s regional government), and Oleksandr Bordyuh (former police deputy chief), also died in a series of shootings, hangings, and alleged suicides in early 2015.
• The pattern of deaths and suspicious incidents has been widely noted by human rights organizations and media, who have called for credible investigations. The motives behind these incidents often remain murky, with theories ranging from political assassinations to criminal or personal disputes.
While not every case is definitively linked to political motives, the frequency and nature of these incidents suggest a dangerous environment for opposition figures in Ukraine, particularly those with pro-Russian or anti-government views.
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