Right-wing radicals will not abandon attempts to attack the UOC, – politologist

"In the exchange of prisoners, the role of the UOC was one of the key ones, along with the contact group in Minsk," said Kirill Molchanov. "The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was a full-fledged subject, which really facilitated the exchange. This is almost the only structure that has its parishes and its influence in those territories that are beyond the control of the Ukrainian authorities, and it can help captives. The President was forced to take this step: to officially thank His Beatitude Onufry, although perhaps he would not like it much, because he openly advocates the creation of the Ukrainian Local Church on the basis of the Kyiv Patriarchate. Moreover, the press service wrote that the President thanked the heads of the "Churches", although the photo shows that only Metropolitan Onufry was present at this meeting. Therefore, I think it was done to demonstrate that the second exchange of prisoners will also largely depend on the UOC. Its role cannot be minimized, so the President secured its support."

Answering the question whether the incident meant a change in the attitude of the radicals towards the UOC, the political expert said that they are unlikely to change their tactics.

"The attacks take place along the lines of various political "hawks", which are associated with the "People’s Front" and ultra-right organizations," Molchanov said. "I think that they will follow their tactics. But at the state level, we are unlikely to see that the President will support it, rather the opposite. That is what we constantly hear: the adoption of anti-church laws in the Parliament, the seizure of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, – such global upheavals will most likely be avoided. But local clashes will continue, because many right-wing radicals consider the presence of the UOC as almost the main problem in Ukraine. We can hardly see a decline in their anti-church activity."

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