Expert: If the President doesn't react, a million believers will come to OP

Journalist Yuri Molchanov. Photo: screenshot of the First Cossack Youtube channel

If the authorities do not respond to the collection of more than a million signatures against the persecution of the Church, the believers of the UOC will come to the Office of the President personally, expert Yuri Molchanov believes.

During the broadcast on 1Kozaktv (First Cossack – Ed.), the journalist said that the government is not aware of the complexity of the church issue.

“In our power now there are people who have not plunged into the full depth of the problems of the state. And the church issue for many functionaries is behind a screen of secrecy,’ said Molchanov. "They don't understand why people are outraged and unhappy."

According to the expert, believers of the UOC will be ready to take to the streets to defend their legal rights.

“People may be too lazy to come to the President's Office because of political or economic issues. But for those believing in God it makes a difference – they can get up and go. The authorities saw that there are a million people who do not demand special privileges but ask to simply observe their constitutional rights,” he added.

In turn, publicist Ruslan Kalinchuk called the action to transfer signatures to the President insufficient and said that “we need to act even more actively to achieve a tangible result”. At the same time, he believes that the action helped to actualize the problem for the authorities and society.

Earlier, the ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the party VO Svoboda called "once and for all to deport from Ukraine" the churches of the UOC alongside its priests and Metropolitan Onuphry.

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