The head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, said in an interview with Radio Liberty that “Moscow strives to be the first,” but “historically this right belongs to Constantinople,” and quoted Patriarch Bartholomew, telling about “the dream of Russian brothers to lead world Orthodoxy.”

“Moscow has strived and is striving to be the first in world Orthodoxy. But historically, as the Ecumenical Patriarch has repeatedly stated, this right belongs to Constantinople. This was determined even at the Ecumenical Councils, and the attempts of the Russian Church to change what has been forming for one and a half thousand years are in vain,” Epiphany noted, adding that “strength is not quantity.”

“What Patriarch Kirill is doing now is multiplying the episcopate. But this does not mean that this church is the largest. In terms of quantity, yes, but spiritually it is unlikely. Therefore, there is an attempt to preserve Ukraine, because without Ukraine they will not be able to claim this primacy,” says the “Metropolitan”.