by J. Froebel-Parker, Tsarizm, ©2025
(Nov. 10, 2025) — The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the largest Orthodox group in Ukraine while also the largest denomination of any Christian group there, is in a constant battle with the government of atheistic Volodymyr Zelensky, the hitherto darling of much of the European Union and certain sycophants in both US political parties. Simultaneously, the former comedian turned head of state, who is a non-Christian in an overwhelmingly Christian nation, persecutes the UOC on a variety of levels.
Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk, a city in the northern part of the contested Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine, has been under the yoke of the Zelensky regime since April 24, 2024 when trumped up charges were levelled against him in an orchestrated attempt to lessen his influence and demean him, as he was deemed a pro-Moscow symbol in an area which is heavily russified in language and Orthodoxy. He was accused of using a sermon in 2023 to indicate Zelensky loyal military checkpoints loyal to Zelensky to the Russian military, a charge he has continually denied.
In an attempt to stem the popularity of the canonical UOC, the Zelensky government, with the imprimatur, irritating to millions of Orthodox, of Patriarch Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991, created a state compliant Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The latter has attempted to wrest control of traditional Orthodox lavras (monasteries) and other historical sites belonging to the canonical UOC since the OCU was established as a counter denomination. Vladyka (Bishop) Arseniy, as a firm member of the UOC, has then become a lightning rod for Kievian persecution. Many have commented that the creation of a “state compliant church” hearkens to the example of Germany during WWII in which the “Bekennende Kirche” (the Confessional Lutheran Church) was in direct opposition to the Hitlerian Protestant Reich Church, founded to rubber stamp directives from Berlin and to manipulate Christian reaction to unchristian policies.
On November 3, 2025, during a court recess, Vladyka Arseniy suddenly became ill. Chancellor Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared, “It is physically possible to undermine the health of the bishop, but his spirit cannot be broken.” The image of confessional Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer immediately comes to mind. Metropolitan Arseniy’s blood pressure spiked to 200 over 110 while reviewing in court the video footage of his arrest on October 28, 2025. Neither his lawyers nor he were allowed to comment on the footage nor was it paused for any review, in essence using it as a means of psychological denigration without opportunity for defense.
Many thanks to Matushka Elena Perekrestov for reviewing the video of Vladyka Arseniy and providing commentary on it in English:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1375934727388940
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