Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, stated that the leadership of the UOC-MP does not disclose the content of the state's directive to its faithful and instead spreads false claims. The document demands the church's withdrawal from the Russian Orthodox Church and condemnation of Russia's actions against Ukraine. He said this on the air of the telethon, as reported by UNN.
There are many rumors and much untruth surrounding this directive, and the content of this directive is hidden from the faithful of the UOC.
He explained that the document obliges the UOC-MP to sever all ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, including subordinate parishes, monasteries, eparchies, and theological educational institutions. The church must also officially declare that the 2017 ROC charter has no force for it, and publicly renounce the annexation of its eparchies by Russia and condemn the actions of the occupying forces.
According to Yelensky, the directive does not involve renouncing the Orthodox faith, changing the language of worship, switching to another calendar, or joining another confession.
At the same time, the head of the SESS warned: if the requirements of the document are not met by August 24, the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC-MP may be recognized as structurally linked to the ROC, which is banned in Ukraine, and its liquidation may be initiated through the court.