Daily Journal:

In relation to Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill strictly divides politicians, church leaders and citizens of this country into “civilized” and “uncivilized”. This can be seen in the speeches of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. This was clearly demonstrated during his meeting with Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko. What is perceived by everyone as rhetoric calling for unity and harmony of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, in fact, quite radically separates the two countries. Kirill’s words about the East Slavic civilization, which includes two states, rigidly integrate Ukraine into the “Russian civilization”, without giving it any opportunity to break out of its borders. Anyone who tries to leave “our” civilization, and in the case of Ukraine, to move towards rapprochement with the West, with the European Union, with NATO, automatically falls out of the Russian cultural space outlined by the Patriarch of Moscow. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasizes: “For us, Kyiv is Constantinople, it is the spiritual capital of Russian Orthodoxy.” However, this Orthodoxy also has a clearly defined framework - the canonical Church, subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. That is why every meeting with independent Ukrainian politicians will be accompanied by strict reminders. Thus, at a meeting with Tymoshenko, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' expressed concern about the situation in the Sumy region, where a number of seizures of churches of the canonical Ukrainian Church have recently been noted. Now the head of the Information Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Legoyda, who was a talented journalist, will voice just such chopped phrases that express the essence of Bishop Kirill’s policy. A step to the side - and you are already outside the “canonical” Russian Orthodox Church and outside the “East Slavic civilization”, you are a kind of violator of the civilizational code, as Kirill liked to say. Naturally, every “orange” politician who does not support the Moscow Patriarchate or will simply meet, like Yushchenko, with “schismatics” in the person of Patriarch Filaret, head of the Kyiv Patriarchate of the UOC, will be an enemy.

If Patriarch Alexy did not build a political concept out of the natural claims of the Russian Orthodox Church MP towards the Ukrainian authorities, then for Patriarch Kirill it is important to outline the positions of the Moscow Patriarchate and make them part of a political dialogue or discord with Ukraine. Kirill especially notes “how significant the religious factor is in the lives of our peoples and how important a role it can play in relations between our countries.” This call sounds frightening for the simple reason that in the conditions of already difficult relations between Ukraine and Russia, the Church led by Patriarch Kirill seeks to become another watershed between our countries, to add another weighty argument in opposition to orange politicians, dividing Ukrainians into those who takes into account “our” religious factor, and those who are building another civilization.