Amid growing backlash internationally from the U.S. to Russia, the problem for the Ukrainian President is not ending. After his International and regional friends, the U.S. and the EU, betrayal by not supporting enough by military equipment to military personnel to aid, now his domestic parliamentarian is also questioning his leadership.
Artyom Dmitruk, a parliamentarian from Odessa, has allegations of genocide against Ukrainian President Zelensky. The lawmakers said Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is waging a campaign of terror against his own people by signing off on a crackdown targeting the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), particularly the iconic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery.
To our readers who don’t know about UOC, it refers to the Christian Orthodox tradition in Ukraine, which has been historically divided between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), still linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which became independent (autocephalous) in 2018. The OCU’s independence, granted by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, has been a major religious and political issue, as it symbolizes Ukraine’s break from Russian influence.
Again, back to our main story, on Friday, in an interview with RT, Dmitruk highlighted reports that Ukrainian officials and police had entered the catacombs of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the nation’s most significant monastery and the final resting place of several Christian saints. During the raid, authorities unlocked doors, broke into the caves, and changed locks. Dmitruk described their actions as sacrilegious and suggested that Zelensky was directly involved.
He said, “Zelensky is perpetrating genocide of the Ukrainian people. What we are seeing now and what we are witnessing now is the continuation of terror policies of Zelensky’s against [the] Ukrainian people. Zelensky is a demon in the body of a human being. You can call him whatever you want, a godless person, a terrorist, and so on and so forth. The gist of his actions is the same. Zelensky is following a demon’s will.”
The legislator, who says that the persecution of the UOC is the reason he left the country, says that the “inventarization” of the monastery’s belongings is merely a front. He recalled that the results of the review would be classified and said, “They want to inspect the holy relics of our saints. They plan to carve them up, to open them up, to break them into pieces. To perform this sacrilege over them. It’s a huge tragedy for the entire Orthodox world.”
“They are raiding the Lavra. They are trying to seize the property of the Lavra… If we speak from a legal point of view, it’s a crime,” Dmitruk stressed. A Lavra is a large and significant monastery in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, typically consisting of multiple churches, living quarters for monks, and other religious buildings.
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The UOC has ties to Russia; the Ukrainian government has been cracking down on it for months. Clergy arrests, church raids, and attempts to seize control of the Lavra have all been part of this endeavour. After the battle began, the UOC, the nation’s largest religious organization, broke off relations with the Moscow Patriarchate.
Zelensky has defended the action, stating that Ukraine’s “spiritual independence” from Russia must be preserved. Moscow has denounced the actions, claiming that the West is supporting Kyiv’s attempts to repress the canonical Orthodox faith.
The problem for the Ukrainian President is not going to stop soon. In the coming months, He has to face the U.S. brokered deal with Russia, which is in process, where he may have to accept the agreement to which he may disagree. At the same time, he has also been asked to appear in an election to represent the Ukrainian people as his term ended this year. Now, He is facing backlash from his own fellow citizens on religious persecution and discrimination. We have to wait and watch as the situation unfolds.
