The Russian Embassy in Ukraine, together with the Russia-controlled Moscow Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has invited for a meeting to be held the day following mass events in Kyiv a number of foreign ambassadors and representatives of foreign Orthodox churches, according to Information Resistance OSINT community leader, MP Dmytro Tymchuk.
The deputy in a Facebook posting says he believes the effort aims at expanding the channels of communication for spreading key messages of Russian propaganda in relation to Ukraine's aspirations to get for its church an autocephalous status, that is to ensure its independence of the Russian influence.
One of the messages to be channeled is the "massive" group of Ukrainian admirers of the Moscow Patriarchate and the other possible thing is "provocations" by someone under the guise of "fascists and nationalists" that may be carried out during the religious procession in honor of the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.
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"On the initiative of [Moscow Patriarchate's] Metropolitan Onufriy, the day after the Crusade, on July 28, representatives of the following foreign embassies in Ukraine are scheduled to meet in the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra: Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Macedonia , Bulgaria and Romania.
"In addition, the Exarchate of the ROC in Ukraine (UOC-MP), on instructions from Moscow, separately invited representatives of the Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Georgian and Belarusian Orthodox Churches, as well as representatives of the American Orthodox Church," Tymchuk wrote.
Within the framework of the meeting there will be a discussion of the situation around the supposedly "uncanonical process" of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Local Orthodox Church, Information Resistance learned. Using the messages crafted in Moscow, against the 'necessary' background formed during the Orthodox procession in Kyiv, the attendees will be warned of the threats of such developments ("the split of world Orthodoxy", "bloody confrontation in Ukraine on religious grounds," etc), according to Tymchuk.
The main thesis by Russia will be to promote a call for unity so that "by common efforts to preserve peace on Ukrainian soil, "which, to put it mildly, sounds awkward under conditions of ongoing occupation and aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
"Let's hope that the diplomats invited to the meeting, as well as the representatives of the world Orthodox community, have enough understanding and common sense not to dance to the FSB tune in this propaganda show," Tymchuk concludes.
