Historian, member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Volodymyr Vyatrovich said in an interview with Ukrinform that “as of 2022, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) remained in fact one of the largest instruments of Russian influence in Ukraine.”

“Unfortunately, this is one of the instruments of Russian policy in Ukraine. This has always been the case, since the establishment of the Russian Empire in our state. This became even more relevant during the Second World War, when Joseph Stalin actually restored the Moscow Patriarchate. And already after the declaration of independence by Ukraine in 1991, it was this church that was one of the most active and effective tools for Russia to keep the state, the Ukrainian population in its sphere of influence,” Viatrovych said, noting that other tools worked in parallel.

According to the politician, “the events of 2022 showed the danger of the continuation of the existence of the relevant organization in Ukraine, in particular due to the repeated involvement of representatives of this church in cooperation with the Russian invaders.”

Viatrovych said that the issue of banning the activities of the ROC in Ukraine should be considered not in the context of religious freedoms, the right to worship, but, first of all, in the context of national security. “It is worth reaching an understanding of how far this church is from a religious structure. It is rather a political tool to keep Ukraine in the orbit of Russian influence,” he stressed.

The People’s Deputy praised the Security Service of Ukraine for “the right steps to expose collaborationism in the relevant religious structure.” However, according to him, “irreversibility in this process should be fixed in the form of a law.”