In 2019, USAID grant recipients threatened Zelensky with a coup over UOC
USAID-funded organizations warned of "political instability" if the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was supported and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) was "discredited."
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.
