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The canonical Orthodox church has “ended” in Lvov, the official proclaimed. Lvov has declared it has “ended” the last remaining presence of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Andrey Sadovoy, the mayor of Lvov in western Ukraine, declared on Thursday that the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in his city was no more. Local authorities have finished the demolition of the Church of St. Vladimir, while the Church of St. George has been turned over to the government-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

“In two days, we have ended the history of the Moscow Patriarchate in our city,” Sadovoy wrote on his Telegram channel. 

Of the two remaining properties used by the UOC, one was turned over to the state to serve as a rehab center for wounded soldiers, while the landlady of another “ended her contract with the Moscow Patriarchate” so the “worship ceased.”

Sadovoy used the term “Moscow Patriarchate” to refer to the canonical UOC, which remains in communion with the Russian Orthodox Church. The government in Kiev has accused the UOC of being pro-Russian and a potential threat to the security and spirituality of the country, even though the church had declared independence from Moscow and even condemned the Russian “invasion.”

Instead, Kiev favors the OCU, established by the government in 2018 and recognized only by the pro-Western Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The demolished wooden church of St. Vladimir had previously been vandalized by Ukrainian nationalists. In recent weeks, local authorities across western Ukraine have seized UOC churches and turned them over to the OCU. 

Meanwhile, the government in Kiev has attempted to do the same to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the holiest Orthodox monastery in the country, which dates back to the 11th century. Metropolitan Pavel, the UOC abbott of the monastery, was arrested last week and accused by the Ukrainian security services of inciting religious hatred and “justifying and denying Russian military aggression.” 

Moscow has condemned Kiev’s crackdown on the canonical Orthodox Church and the “cynical” proclamations by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that his country was the paragon of religious freedom and democracy.

Lvov has been one of the major centers of modern Ukrainian nationalism, which envisions a national identity not just distinct from Russian but hostile to it. Such sentiments are the strongest in territories of modern Ukraine that were ruled by Austria-Hungary and later Poland Read More

Analysis: Ukraine’s ‘proxy war’ with Russia really about persecuting ancient Christian community, JD Hayes writes:

An analysis of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine published in recent days claims that it’s really a proxy war to wipe out an ancient Christian community.

“The war in Ukraine involves more than just epic clashes of the Russian and Ukrainian militaries in a proxy war unlike anything since the hottest days of the Cold War,” writes investigative journalist Leo Hohmann. “The hidden war no Western media wants you to see or know about is the one being waged by the Ukrainian government against one of the most ancient Christian communities present in the world today.”

The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is being used as a puppet by the West to launch an attack on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Hohmann says. The Zelenskyy regime has already turned Ukraine into a one-party state where the government has taken control of the entire media and all forms of opposition are prohibited. Recently, Zelenskyy demanded the house arrest of a senior member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for a minimum of 60 days, he added.

The SBU, Ukraine’s security agency, informed a prominent Orthodox priest that he was under suspicion of justifying Russia’s aggression, which is considered a criminal offense. The priest in question is the leader of Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Hohmann notes.

The dispute over the monastery has caused a rift between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the authorities. The priest has denied the allegations and is resisting orders to leave the complex, claiming that the case is politically motivated.

“According to Breitbart News, Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most holy Orthodox site, has strongly resisted the government’s order to vacate the complex. Earlier in the week, he cursed Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, telling the Ukrainian leader he was flirting with eternal damnation for the way he is persecuting the Church,” the journalist’s analysis noted.

Pavel, during a court hearing held in the Ukrainian capital, vehemently denied the allegations made by the SBU that he had supported Russia’s invasion. He labeled the accusations as politically motivated.