AFU General Staff's spokesperson urges SBU to deal with OCA Primate's visit

Head of the OCA in Ukraine. Photo: UOC

Former spokesman for the UOC-KP, spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Kovalyov called the head of the Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Tikhon, "a Kremlin agent in robes" and urged the Security Service of Ukraine to investigate the visit of His Beatitude to Ukraine. He wrote about this on his Facebook page.

In his opinion, the UOC wants to show that it is still recognized, which is why representatives from America come here.

"Mollard (Metropolitan Tikhon – Ed.) is a classic Trojan horse. Here he will say publicly, 'We support all of Ukraine's efforts to defend its borders', but concurrently, Mollard in English voices Russian narratives about the alleged 'persecution' of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine," Kovalyov wrote.

He is concerned that the Primate of the OCA will talk about the persecutions of the UOC by the authorities after his visit, will meet with American politicians, and thereby undermine the trust of the American elite in Ukraine.

Kovalyov calls on the Security Service to check who allowed Metropolitan Tikhon to visit Ukraine and for what funds his trip was organized.

As the UOJ reported, the Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada expressed his support for the Primate and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and called on the civil authorities of Ukraine to respect freedom of religion, due process, and the norms of international law in the country.

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