The OCU is not the national church of Ukraine, it is a quasi-religious formation, said Vladimir Legoyda, head of the ROC Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, in an interview.

“The National Church in Ukraine existed and continues to exist, and this Church is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed, without exaggeration, by the most respected spiritual leader of this country – Metropolitan Onufriy.

His authority cannot be questioned either within Ukraine or abroad. What they tried to create in Ukraine is not a national church, it is a quasi-religious formation. Its creators tried to bring their nationalistic prejudices into the sphere of church life and, unfortunately, with the help of politicians and the Phanar who supported them, they succeeded.

The faithful children of the Church saw this substitution and remained in the Church in which they have always been. But at the same time, of course, attempts continue to seduce people, to lure them into parishes, “legalized”, created with the participation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople or taken from the canonical Church,”  Legoida said.