Mass killings of civilians are a sign of genocide. The russians did not come to release the Ukrainians. Everything one can see now in the Kyiv region, in Mariupol, in towns and villages of Chernihiv region, Sumy region, Kharkiv region, Donbas, South of Ukraine, proves that the russian tyrant, people who support him together with their army came to our land to "liberate" Ukraine from Ukrainians.
This was stated by the Head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Metropolitan Epiphanius.
They continue Tsar Petro's army's dark, diabolical work that cut out everybody in Baturyn and burned the city. They are doing the same thing the russian-bolshevik gangs did; they created rivers of blood during the so-called "Red Terror." They are the followers of Stalin's crimes, the followers of the repression and Holodomor-genocide planned in the same bloody Kremlin to destroy the Ukrainian people," - said the Head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in a sermon. Metropolitan gave a sermon after a service at St. Michael's Cathedral in Kyiv on 3 April 2022, the fourth Sunday of Lent.
The ideology of the "ruski mir" [russian world] is the same as the ideology of Nazism; it justifies violence, murder, war, and genocide. Therefore we must reject and condemn it in the same way we condemned Nazism, its ideologues, and its crimes. The Head of the russian Orthodox Church, Kyrylo Hundiaev, and his associates are the creators and the followers of this criminal ideology.
Metropolitan Epiphanius emphasized that condemning these crimes that violate the laws of man and God is not just a right but a moral duty of everyone.
After all, this is not about discussing the details of canon law, theological contradictors, or historical discussions. It is about good and evil and about everyone's choice: are you with God or with the devil? Kyrylo Hundiaev has already made his choice in favor of the antichrist," - he explained.
The Head of the OCU once again appealed to religious communities still subject to subordination to the russian Orthodox Church.
"I urge those who still have him (Patriarch Kyrylo - ed.) as their pastor: open your eyes, look at the poisonous fruits of his doctrine, stay away from the lawless, do not be his accomplices!" - said Metropolitan Epiphanius.
Since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine as of 29 March 2022, 50 religious communities have moved to the OCU from the russian Orthodox Church, and almost 100 others are in the process of transition.
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphanius