"The Patriarchate of Constantinople communicates directly with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Proof of that are multiple letters from Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry [of Kiev and All Ukraine] and vice versa," deputy head of the UOC Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Nikolay Danilevich told Sputnik.
READ MORE: Vatican Corrects Kiev's Claims of Holy See Support for Autocephaly
In mid-September, two exarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople started working in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP), which came as part of Constantinople's preparations to grant autocephaly to the UOC-KP.
The initiative has been strongly criticized by the Russian Orthodox Church.