Zakharova: Revoking the citizenship of 13 Ukrainian priests is “Satanic”.
According to Tass, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, described the decision of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to revoke the citizenship of 13 Orthodox priests of this country during the Orthodox Christmas as “Satanism”.
Zakharova said in response to Zelensky’s decree: “And this happened during the Orthodox Christmas celebration!” This is pure satanism.
Yesterday (Saturday), the Ukrainian Levy Berg publication, citing reliable sources, announced that Zelensky signed a decree revoking the citizenship of 13 priests of the Orthodox Church.
Since November 2022, Ukrainian law enforcement officers have raided Orthodox churches in the country several times. The Security Service of Ukraine claimed that in these raids, they seized “pro-Russian texts and books and significant amounts of cash, as well as texts and articles denying the existence of Ukraine.” In addition, several priests have been accused of treason, sabotage and propaganda against the Kiev regime.
On December 1, 2022, Zelensky issued a decree to implement the resolution of the National Security and Defense Council on certain specific activities of religious organizations of Ukraine, as well as the imposition of personal economic sanctions and other restrictive measures, which were specifically aimed at limiting the activity of the Orthodox Church.
In another move, he gave orders to the Ukrainian parliament to prepare and submit a bill to ban “religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation.” This decision is aimed at intensifying measures to identify and confront the subversive activities of the Russian special service in Ukrainian religious circles and centers, as well as scrutinizing the charter of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in order to discover signs of the connection of these institutions with the Russian “patriarchal” church.
