OCU сleric: Even those who think in Russian are outsiders in Ukraine

Ivan Rybaruk. Photo: Rudnyk Nataliia

Ivan Rybaruk, an OCU "priest" and rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the village of Kryvorivnia, Ivano-Frankivsk region, said that Ukrainians who speak and think in Russian are "outsiders" in their own country. He said he came to this conclusion after praying to God. A video of his remarks was posted on Threads.

Rybaruk based his conclusion on an account of a humanitarian aid distribution center that operated at a museum in Kryvorivnia after the start of the full-scale war. According to the OCU cleric, the person distributing aid divided recipients into three categories.

The first category consisted of people who spoke Ukrainian both among themselves and with the volunteer. Rybaruk described them as reserved and polite, saying they took very little and "had to be persuaded to take more."

The second category included those who spoke Russian among themselves but Ukrainian with the volunteer. According to him, they behaved "arrogantly," picking through items and making complaints.

The third category consisted of those who "insisted on speaking Russian" with everyone. Rybaruk claimed their "arrogance was extreme": they would take "six pairs of jeans, eight shirts," acting as though "you owe us."

Rybaruk said he reflected on this during a church service and asked God to reveal the reason behind such behavior. After communicating with God, he said he "began to understand" that people in Ukraine who speak and think in Russian are "foreign" and "outsiders."

"I'm talking about people who don't even want to think in this language, and that is fundamental. If people don't even want to think in this language, they are outsiders in our land, and our land is foreign to them. And when danger comes, they won't try to save their land. They'll simply grab everything and run away like tumbleweeds. Unfortunately, that's the truth, and I see it clearly," the OCU cleric stated.

Rybaruk called language "the primary marker of identity." He compared the "law of language" to the law of gravity, which operates "whether you want it to or not."

According to him, Ukraine has "four cornerstones": language, faith, historical memory, and cultural tradition.

Asked when the war would end, the cleric replied: "When we become Ukrainians."

As the UOJ previously reported, an OCU representative called the UOC an "enemy" and urged unity with the Greek Catholics.

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