Kiev recently received permission from the Holy Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate to go forward with its plans to break from Moscow and found its own church, which it claims will free the country from Russian influence. Moscow, for its part, fiercely objects to this hostile move and expressed serious concern over the fate of its church's property and the safety of its believers in an increasingly ultra-nationalist Ukraine. It also vowed to protect them through all legal means at its disposal.
The issue is extremely sensitive because Kiev is regarded as the historic cradle of Russian civilization, which is one of the reasons why the aftermath of the American-backed spree of urban terrorism popularly referred to as "EuroMaidan" was so painful for many Russians. Now, however, they're forced to confront the nightmarish scenario of potentially having the spiritual bonds with their ancient motherland severed for what appears to be nothing more than self-serving political reasons that are irresponsibly — though possibly even deliberately — widening the divide between these two brotherly people. This can't help but have geopolitical consequences, which is why the theory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's campaign for autocephaly being a weaponization of religion for strategic ends is becoming more widespread.
According to this view, the US is encouraging the post-coup Ukrainian authorities to do all that they can to provoke hatred between their people and Russians, which could in turn impede any realistic chances of a rapprochement between them. With Ukraine successfully removed from Russia's so-called "sphere of influence", the theory goes, the US could then expand its divide-and-rule identity warfare strategy into the borders of the Russian Federation itself as it seeks to weaken the country from within through unconventional means. There's also a related train of thought that sees the US' hidden hand in all of this as being motivated by a Liberal-Globalist agenda to undermine Christianity in general and the Russian Orthodox Church's role as the defender of traditional values in particular.
Andrew Korybko is joined by Tim Kirby, an award-winning American radio host and political analyst in Russia, and Leonid Savin, Editor-in-Chief of Geopolitica.ru, Director of the Foundation for Monitoring and Forecasting, and the administrative head of the International Eurasian Movement.
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