A former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, Oleksiy Arestovych, has said that the United States of America is shocked by the Ukrainian authorities’ attack on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

According to Arestovich, “very serious people who determine half of US policy and aid to Ukraine” consider the persecution of the UOC unacceptable.

“How do you think they will react now to the decision of the Verkhovna Rada, which scored votes in favor of banning the Moscow Patriarchate? They are all religious people to the brain,” the former OP adviser said and added that “they are shocked. They say: ‘Please, there are many collaborators – so arrest the collaborators, for a specific criminal offense. Who is attacking the Church? Are you crazy?”

Instead of attacking the Church, Arestovich advised the Ukrainian authorities and law enforcers to solve crimes that individual representatives of the UOC may have committed.

“This is also my position, I have always said: as many personalities as you want, if they committed a crime – criminal, political, it does not matter, treason to the motherland, collaborationism – please. There are no hierarchs who cannot be arrested if they have committed crimes”, – he said.

According to Arestovich, the right decision regarding the UOC would be to hold a Council of Churches.

“Let’s gather the Council of Churches, start a long theological discussion and according to canonical ecclesiastical law sort out what, how and where – will be renamed, will not be, Ukrainian, not Ukrainian”, – he emphasized.