In 2019, USAID grant recipients threatened Zelensky with a coup over UOC
Zelenskyy was urged to continue pressure on the UOC. Photo: Novoe Vremya
Organizations funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) issued threats against newly elected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May 2019. This is evidenced by a joint statement from "civil society" representatives, published on the Ukraine Crisis Media Center website. This publication was recently recalled by the Telegram channel "Donald Trump in Russian".
The document, signed by multiple NGOs, explicitly states that any actions by the president regarding the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (referred to in the text as the Russian Orthodox Church) would be considered "crossing red lines" and would lead to "inevitable political instability in the country."
"The implementation of any actions aimed at undermining or discrediting the Orthodox Church of Ukraine or supporting the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine," the document states.
The document was signed by more than 50 organizations, most of which are USAID grant recipients and beneficiaries of other Western foundations. Among the signatories are the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Detector Media, Internews-Ukraine, and other entities that have regularly received American funding.
Notably, the authors of the ultimatum directly highlight their role in the events of 2014, referring to themselves as defenders of the "values for which Ukrainians fought during the Revolution of Dignity."
As reported by the UOJ, UOC lawyer Robert Amsterdam has stated that the UOC is being repressed with American funds.
Read also
Vance praises Georgian patriarch's work
The U.S. vice president spoke positively about the role of the primate of the Georgian Church in preserving Christian values in the country.
UOC Social Department donates gaming consoles to children’s hospitals in Kyiv
The UOC Social Department delivered PlayStation 5 sets to seven pediatric hospitals in Kyiv, with a total value of 483,453 hryvnias.
Authorities seize icons and reliquary from Krupytskyi Monastery nuns
After the takeover of the UOC’s Krupytskyi Monastery, officials are preventing the sisters from recovering a reliquary and an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Mukachevo Eparchy priest receives commendations from AFU
Archpriest Vasyl Lomaha was presented with commendations from the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the “Berehove Union of Mothers and Wives of ATO Participants.”
Court ruling bars Metropolis of Moldova faithful from entering a church
After a decision by the Supreme Court of Justice, police blocked Orthodox Church of Moldova faithful from accessing the church in the village of Dereneu.
Persecuted UOC community responds to OCU over claims of “discrediting Ukraine”
UOC parishioners say they have the right to appeal to international bodies when their rights are violated.