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Religious scholar: Canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine will go underground
Lunkin said that radical Ukrainian nationalists now determine the ideology of the Kyiv regime. He noted that acts of violence against the UOC will continue in cities where the UOC has influence.
"But if there were more battles before, now in Cherkassy there have been open bandit attacks on the cathedral with the connivance of the authorities and the SBU," he said.
Lunkin calls the future of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church "foggy". "Russia remains the guardian of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Orthodoxy as a whole. Russia will become a refuge for parishioners and clergy. The UOC and its units headed by Patriarch Kirill partially remain in Donbass," he emphasized.
The expert also said that the UOC itself and departments that file complaints with international human rights organizations should participate in recording the seizures of churches. He believes that the West is aware of the situation in Ukraine and its movements toward anti-Orthodox extremism. The Russian Orthodox Church and Russian government agencies can monitor the seizures, Lukin added.
According to the newspaper Vzglyad, supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church seized the formal Ukrainian Orthodox Church and looted it, using weapons and tear gas. It was also reported that parishioners required medical assistance after this incident.