Bortnik: What the authorities are doing with Lavra harms Ukraine

Ruslan Bortnik. Photo: Gordon

The actions of the Ukrainian authorities in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra are causing immense harm to Ukraine," said the director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics, Ruslan Bortnik, in an interview with journalist and blogger Oleksandr Shelest.

"The situation itself (repression by the authorities against the UOC – Ed.) leads to a significant portion of society being socially alienated, moving into radical opposition. Not towards Ukraine, but towards the government," Bortnik said.

He says that he does not understand why the authorities are doing this, since such actions bring great harm to the state.

"Firstly, hundreds of thousands, or maybe millions of people view this negatively. Secondly, how does this 'picture' of state interference in religious matters look like on the international stage? Thirdly, the mobilisation of Russian religious extremism for the war in Ukraine. The question is - for what purpose?" the political analyst asks.

Ruslan Bortnik argues that by acting against the UOC, the government is creating a crisis within its own ranks.

"I see how many communities in villages have divided. Some serve at home, feeling extremely aggrieved and offended, while others are in half-empty churches because the passionate part of the community has left. The part of the community in the settlement that supported the transition is not very religious; they were guided by political motives, and these people do not go to church," Bortnik stated.

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