Dumenko: Unless authorities support the OCU, Putin will come here

"Metropolitan" Epifaniy Dumenko. Photo: bbc.com
If the authorities do not support the OCU, Putin will come to Ukraine. This forecast was given by "Metropolitan" Epifaniy Dumenko in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
Dumenko said that the authorities should support the OCU, since "there is an ongoing war," although "this is not visible in Kyiv and most of Ukraine." According to him, in all branches of government there are still people who “understand the significance of the existence of an independent autocephalous Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” but their number is not enough.
“The authorities, within the framework of the law, should support the development of the OCU, because it is the Church that strives for the Ukrainian state to be strong. This Church will always lend a shoulder to the Ukrainian state, because it aims to make Ukraine united. If we do not support the Ukrainian authorities, then there will be no Ukraine either. What happens next? Putin will come here. We see what is happening in Crimea and Donbas – there is no freedom there at all. Of course, we do not want to have the same scenario here,” said the head of the OCU.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that Dumenko stated that the longer the Ukrainian presidents are in power, the more they support the OCU.
Read also

Drabynko: Our churches are empty – why do we need the Pochaiv Lavra?
The OCU metropolitan emphasized that since the UOC was expelled from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, it has become empty.

OCU “Bishops’ Council” praises government for UOC banning law
The OCU called the UOC the “Moscow Patriarchate Metropolia” and urged it to enter into dialogue.
Metropolitan Longin: We will not be silent – we will defend our Shepherd!
The hierarch called on all believers to intensify their prayers for the Primate and urged the authorities to reconsider the decision before it's too late.
UOC faithful launch flash mob in support of His Beatitude Onuphry
"For years he has prayed for each of us. Now it's our turn to support the Primate," the statement says.
Refusal of passport to support His Beatitude may become widespread – expert
Kostiantyn Bondarenko believes that the faithful may soon actively respond to the authorities' arbitrariness toward the Primate of the UOC.
AFU medic to Zelensky: You took citizenship from His Beatitude – take mine too
Larysa Zburliuk returned all state awards she received during Zelensky’s presidency.