The United States ignores the infringement of the rights of believers, as well as repression against representatives of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by the Kyiv regime. This was announced on Tuesday, May 16, at the Russian embassy in Washington, commenting on the report of the US State Department on religious freedom in the world.

The report, published yesterday, calls Russia a “country of particular concern” for the second year in a row and accuses it of persecuting “religious communities within and outside its borders,” including in the context of the Ukraine conflict.

“At the same time, [the report] ignored the infringement of the rights of believers by the Kyiv regime, which is growing every day. Persecution of novices of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. They preferred to turn a blind eye to the repressions of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” the diplomatic mission said.

In addition, as noted in the message, the Americans imputed without evidence to Russia an attempt to split the Orthodox Church, turning the cause-and-effect relationships of the Ukrainian conflict upside down.

Diplomats noted that such an approach is a manifestation of «double» standards, and called on the United States to stop politicizing the subject of religious freedom, using it as a lever to influence the domestic and foreign policies of other states.