MP: Western partners need to be explained that UOC is FSB

Oleksandra Ustinova. Photo: "Judicial-Legal Gazette"

The head of the parliamentary faction "Holos" Oleksandra Ustinova said in an interview with "Glavkom" that she has been repeatedly approached by the US Senate members with a request to explain what is happening around the UOC, and each time she tells the Americans that it is not the Church but FSB officers.

"The key thing now is to communicate properly with our international partners," Ustinova assured. “We are working now, there were even several trips of our priests to Washington with explanations that we have no persecution."

According to her, "We have a unique country where the president is a Jew, the Minister of Defence is a Muslim, we have Orthodox and Catholic churches, synagogues, and want to build mosques next to each other".

But despite this, Ustinova complains that the West does not understand the fact that there is no religious persecution in Ukraine. So, it is necessary to assure Western partners of this.

"Look, they open the law and read about religious organisations. And we need to explain that it goes about the FSB rather than the Church," Ustinova says. “We give them examples of how many churches Russia has bombed, how many of our priests it has killed, and how many of our chaplains are now on the frontline performing their duties daily."

She said that she has been approached several times by the Senate members to clarify this bill, and she understands "that it is a constant routine work that needs to be done".

"So, on the one hand, we definitely need to adopt this bill, on the other hand – to explain on the international stage that this is not about the Church at all," the MP stated.

As earlier reported, according to MP Gerashchenko, Ukraine's allies expressed concern over the UOC ban but it is necessary to work with them.

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