An American lawyer said that Bartholomew, Poroshenko and Pompeo negotiated among themselves to change the church life of Ukraine.
American lawyer Robert Amsterdam said in an interview with Alexander Shelesta's YouTube channel that the processes to destroy the UOC were initiated by the US authorities back under the Trump presidency.
"We learned last week from Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary of State under Trump, that it was a US policy to destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to reduce its influence and role in Ukraine," Amsterdam said.
According to him, this explains the huge amount of black PR that has been spread about the Church.
Amsterdam says this was possible because of the position of Patriarch Bartholomew, who "has allowed himself to be an instrument of US policy." Asked how the head of the Phanar is viewed by Americans, the lawyer said, "Nobody in the US knows Patriarch Bartholomew, except for people in the State Department."
He claims that Pat. Bartholomew, then President Poroshenko and Secretary of State Pompeo negotiated the dramatic changes in the life of the Church in Ukraine.
"And they were criticized for it," Amsterdam said, stressing that the state should stay out of the Church, and such behavior is illegal for representatives of America and contrary to the Ukrainian Constitution.
As earlier reported, Amsterdam intends to meet in Kyiv with members of the UOC Synod and the government.

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International legal protection will be organized for those who have been arrested for their views in connection with journalistic activities.
The head of the international human rights organization NGO Public Advocacy, Oleg Denisov, stated that on April 2, during the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council, facts of persecution of the UOJ and "Pershy Kozatsky" journalists were voiced.
The lawyer stressed that international legal protection will be organized for those who have been arrested for their views in connection with journalistic activities.
"The people named by the UOC speakers today will be included by us in the list of prisoners of conscience – people who are persecuted on religious grounds," said the head of the human rights organization.
Denisov spoke about a number of difficulties that need to be overcome to prove at the international level that Orthodox journalists were detained precisely for their professional activities. In particular, the prosecution does not disclose all the details of their charges before the trial.
"However, considering that UOJ and 'Pershy Kozatsky' have long covered violations of the rights of UOC believers, we will find grounds to monitor these cases and constantly raise the question of why these people were arrested. We will also monitor the conditions of their detention, and in case of evidence of violations, file complaints with international bodies."
As the UOJ reported, the arrest of Orthodox journalists was reported at UN.

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◾️On June 16, in Svityaz, there was an attempt to start the process of raider seizure of the UOC Peter and Paul Monastery.

In the local house of culture, a "meeting of the religious community regarding the transition to the OCU" was announced.

At this meeting, as usual, a territorial community was convened, which has nothing to do with the parishioners and brethren of the monastery.
However, the criminals who organized these meetings miscalculated cruelly.

The abbot of the monastery with the brethren also came to visit this event. Archimandrite Arseniy urged residents not to succumb to provocations on religious grounds and, instead of division, to unite around the defense of Ukraine.
102 participants voted for the "transition to the OCU", and 249 voted against. That is, even the territorial community opposed the raider seizure of the shrine.

The OCU cleric after seeing the result immediately left the without waiting for the final. He did not offer his activists any option for further organization.

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Andriy Baumeister stated that the actions of the authorities are not aimed at consolidating society.
In an interview with the opposition Russian publication 'Meduza', Ukrainian philosopher Andriy Baumeister noted that Ukraine, which respects personality and human dignity in its struggle against totalitarian Russia, would be stronger than a Ukraine that violates fundamental freedoms and human dignity.
"Who said that in war one needs to steal? Who said that in war one needs to fight against the church?" Baumeister asked rhetorically, pointing out that the number of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Ukraine has increased during the warfare.
Criticizing the actions of the authorities, the philosopher said that because of this, "Ukrainian society is not being formed as a united one – there is a great internal division, persecution of dissidents, attacks on business and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. All this is not aimed at consolidating society in a situation of danger."

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Former SBU officer proposed exchanging convicted UOC priests for Ukrainian fighters with Russia.
Former SBU officer and ex-MP Ivan Stupak suggested in an interview with Channel 24 on August 28, 2024, that imprisoned Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) priests could be used as valuable bargaining chips for exchanges with Russia. Stupak proposed that 25 such convicted priests might serve as significant leverage for negotiating the release of Ukrainian fighters, including those from the Azov Battalion.
According to Stupak, previous exchange experiences have demonstrated that Russia places high value on retrieving its priests. For instance, he noted that in Luhansk Oblast, one UOC priest was exchanged for 47 Ukrainian captives.
“If the Russians see a need for these priests, we might start negotiations not on a 1-to-1 basis, but rather 1-to-3 or 1-to-5. This is war; we’re trying to sell the 'goods' that we don’t need but are valuable to the Russians at a higher price,” Stupak emphasized.
He also mentioned that among the prisoners in Ukraine, there is a "Russian cleric" who, according to "church canons, is equivalent to at least an FSB colonel."

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