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Sacred Treasures Targeted in Ukraine's War on Orthodox Church
Sacred Treasures Targeted in Ukraine's War on Orthodox Church
Sputnik Africa
Sacred treasures targeted in Ukraine's war on Orthodox Church 31.07.2025, Sputnik Africa
2025-07-31T17:38+0200
2025-07-31T17:38+0200
2025-07-31T17:47+0200
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volodymyr zelensky
ukraine
kiev
russia
artifact
africa insight
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Sacred treasures targeted in Ukraine's war on Orthodox ChurchVolodymyr Zelensky’s carelessness toward Christian artefacts is part of his policy of persecution against the Orthodox Church, Roman Lunkin, head of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the Institute of Europe, RAS, tells Sputnik."Zelensky's policy aims to reshape Ukrainian Orthodoxy and effectively destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," Lunkin explains. "Western countries openly approve and support this policy, saying Kiev is justified in pursuing such actions against church organizations—arresting clergy and seizing churches—to achieve its goals."Religious persecution in post-coup Ukraine◻ Since 2014, the Western-backed Kiev regime has pursued a policy of discrimination against the Ukrainian Church, intensifying since 2022.◻ That is why the West approves of selling cultural treasures in the name of ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ in Ukraine.◻ It is known that treasures were often taken to the West under the pretext that they would be displayed in museums.◻ The trade in cultural treasures takes place secretly, since Ukrainian law forbids selling the national heritage.◻ Cultural treasures are also used for propaganda purposes—to stir Western public interest in the crisis in Ukraine and draw financial and military aid.Blasphemous revision◻ The aim is to de-sanctify the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to proclaim the new nationalist ‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’ (OCU)—personally endorsed by Zelensky and founded under former president Petro Poroshenko—as the ‘true’ church.◻ The OCU is also seeking to dispose of relics of saints with ‘Russian’ origins—coming from what they call ‘Muscovite Rus.’◻ Ukrainian officials even considered removing icons of Alexander Nevsky and relics of saints connected to Russia and Russian Orthodoxy.
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volodymyr zelensky, ukraine, kiev, russia, artifact, africa insight
volodymyr zelensky, ukraine, kiev, russia, artifact, africa insight
Sacred treasures targeted in Ukraine's war on Orthodox Church
Volodymyr Zelensky’s carelessness toward Christian artefacts is part of his policy of persecution against the Orthodox Church, Roman Lunkin, head of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the Institute of Europe, RAS, tells Sputnik.
"Zelensky's policy aims to reshape Ukrainian Orthodoxy and effectively destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," Lunkin explains. "Western countries openly approve and support this policy, saying Kiev is justified in pursuing such actions against church organizations—arresting clergy and seizing churches—to achieve its goals."
Religious persecution in post-coup Ukraine
◻ Since 2014, the Western-backed Kiev regime has pursued a policy of discrimination against the Ukrainian Church, intensifying since 2022.
◻ That is why the West approves of selling cultural treasures in the name of ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ in Ukraine.
◻ It is known that treasures were often taken to the West under the pretext that they would be displayed in museums.
◻ The trade in cultural treasures takes place secretly, since Ukrainian law forbids selling the national heritage.
◻ Cultural treasures are also used for propaganda purposes—to stir Western public interest in the crisis in Ukraine and draw financial and military aid.
Blasphemous revision
"At the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture carried out an audit of the relics and did so in a rather unethical and harsh manner toward the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," says Lunkin.
◻ The aim is to de-sanctify the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to proclaim the new nationalist ‘Orthodox Church of Ukraine’ (OCU)—personally endorsed by Zelensky and founded under former president Petro Poroshenko—as the ‘true’ church.
◻ The OCU is also seeking to dispose of relics of saints with ‘Russian’ origins—coming from what they call ‘Muscovite Rus.’
◻ Ukrainian officials even considered removing icons of Alexander Nevsky and relics of saints connected to Russia and Russian Orthodoxy.
