Disinfo: Greek church recognised Ukrainian Orthodox Church after being influenced by the U.S.

Summary

The main reason for this shameful and criminal move of the hierarchs of the Church of Greece was the political pressure of the U.S. authorities. The intervention of the American state in church affairs was unprecedentedly rude in nature, although it was described as a “defence of religious freedom”.

Disproof

A conspiracy theory presented without any supporting evidence. Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The process of recognition was initiated by the Orthodox Church of Greece at the beginning on 8 January 2019, when the Permanent Synod of the Church of Greece decided that the issue of recognition would be dealt by the Synod of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece. In February, the Synod of the Church decided to appoint two commissions to study the issue. In August, the commissions presented a report and recommended to recognise the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. On 12 October, the primate of the church Ieronymos II of Athens and other hierarchs supported the conclusions and voted for the recognition, stating that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has the right to granting autocephaly”.

Go to search

publication/media

ren.tv (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 169
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15/10/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Greece, US, Ukraine
  • Keywords: Ukraine, Orthodox Church
see more

Disinfo: US and Poland continue sowing discord between Belarus and Russia

Latest U.S. and Polish activities, including speeches of American experts at Minsk conference and an information campaign of subordinated Belarusian media, indicate that they aim at provoking strict Russian countermeasures and pushing it to the conflict with Belarus. Under the pretext of taking part in a dialogue, Americans conduct information operations, targeting the Union State of Belarus and Russia. Americans need to bring as much distrust and discord in Russia-Belarus relations as possible and to do their best in inflaming the situation in Belarus on the eve of the 2020 presidential election. NATO military exercises Defender 2020 means that the large assault force is created in Poland and Lithuania, aimed at Belarus and Russia’s western regions.

Oct 14, 2019
Disproof

The message is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about Western aggressiveness towards Belarus and Russia and West's attempts to disrupt Belarus-Russia relations.

See earlier disinformation cases alleging that the West destroyed the USSR and is currently targeting the Union State between Belarus and Russia, that the Belarusian opposition, civic activists and independent journalists make kill lists for Western security bodies, that Russia saved Belarus from Western bombing like in Yugoslavia, and that the West's only interest in Belarus is to make it anti-Russian.

Disinfo: Zelenskyy missed the chance to use his popularity to crush the nationalists

Zelenskyy missed his chance when he came to the polls with a huge margin, and he had the opportunity to appeal to the people, the opportunity to appeal to the army, put up his people, and crush the nationalists. Without this, there will be no decision in Ukraine.

Oct 14, 2019
Disproof

The recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the alleged power of Nationalists in Ukraine and their impact on the state process, and the disintegration of Ukraine with no evidence given. In 2014, the far-right ‘Right Sector’ (often described as "ultra-nationalist" or "Nazis" by pro-Kremlin outlets) gained only 1.8% of the votes, far short of the threshold needed to enter Parliament. This demonstrates the attitude and support for far-right nationalist parties in Ukraine. The current president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who got 73.7% of the vote in the 2019 presidential elections, has repeatedly expressed his intention to end the armed conflict in the East of the country as soon as possible.

Disinfo: Kyiv is attempting to block the Normandy Four Summit

Representatives of the DPR and LPR are convinced, in fact, that Kyiv is blocking the summit of the Normandy Four. The Ukrainian side has already thwarted three attempts to disengage.

Oct 14, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Kyiv government sabotaging peace in the Donbas region. See previous cases about the Minsk agreements and the war in Ukraine.

As stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Vadim Pristayko, only after 7 days of peace in the territory can the withdrawal of forces and assets in Zolote and Petrivske begin. According to the daily report by the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM OSCE) on the 14th October, fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions were recorded, but these violations were fixed from both sides. The situation is the same with the withdrawal of forces. The SMM OSCE saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line.