How Kiev Patriarchate made up a story of "persecution" in Russia

The recent news about the "church of the Kiev Patriarchate" in Noginsk, Moscow region, has made significant resonance in the Ukrainian mass media. According to the official Internet resource of the Kiev Patriarchate, "the UOC-KP considers barbarity and vandalism the demand of the Russian authorities to demolish the Trinity Church of the Kiev Patriarchate in Noginsk, Moscow region." A bold statement, isn’t it? Now it is the time to get into it.

Valentin E. Starina, better known as "Metropolitan" Adrian, is the so-called head of the Kiev Patriarchate eparchy of Bogorodsk. The man brought up in educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church later became an ordinary cleric in Noginsk, Moscow region. In 1992 he was dismissed and stripped of priorate for misconduct at the Epiphany Cathedral of Noginsk. All those canonical bans were approved by the current Metropolitan Juvenal (Poyarkov) of Krutitsy and Kolomna. From that moment on, "another turncoat" went into the fold of Ukrainian schismatics.

However, not all is so simple. When in Ukraine representatives of the Kiev Patriarchate smear and demonize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the notorious hierarch is not in full solidarity with his brethren. In 2015, "Metropolitan" Adrian says congratulations to the Metropolitan Juvenal: "On the anniversary of your glorious name day in honor of the 80th anniversary of your birth, accept my sincere congratulations. I have long been looking forward to15 July to be able to congratulate you on the Day of St. Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem... I have always remembered your episcopal appointment at the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra when you, forgetting everything going on in the 90-s of the twentieth century, on the Day of Rev. Sergius of Radonezh met me as a former cleric and brother in Christ ... ".

It turns out that the Russian Orthodox Church is not so hostile, well, at least for "Metropolitan" Adrian. I wonder whether such statements are approved by "Patriarch" Filaret – Valentin Starina’s supervisor in Ukraine.

As for the eparchy itself, we can see some interesting things. There is no eparchy called "the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate" in Russia. And it is very strange that the demolition of the church of the Kiev Patriarchate is so much trumpeted. On the contrary, 7 June 2014, a parish meeting of the Holy Trinity Church of Noginsk was held, which discussed the issue of changing the legal name of the religious community of the church.
In particular, Para 2 of the protocol reads: "On amendments to the Statute of the local religious organization of the Orthodox community of the Holy Trinity Church of Noginsk, Moscow Region, Centralized religious organization of the Bogorodsk eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchate, and on the approval of the new edition of the Statute of the local religious organization of the Orthodox community of the Holy Trinity Church of Noginsk, Moscow region, Centralized religious organization of the Bogorodsk eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, without the words "Kiev Patriarchate".

It turns out that Adrian Starina, together with his parishioners, freely decided to register a new religious organization that has absolutely no relation to the Kiev Patriarchate. Then what is this idle speculation about if there is simply no such a legal organization in Russia, which is identical to "Ukrainian schismatics"? In this context, there are a few interesting points. As evidenced by "Metropolitan" Adrian himself, he is not so much welcomed by "his brethren" of the Kiev Patriarchate.

Here is what he writes about it in 2015: "But hardly had I arrived in my Homeland, Ukraine, in its capital Kiev when at St. Vladimir’s Cathedral from the start I was greeted by the question:" How did you, Russia’s agent, manage to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border?" It sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

By himself, Valentin Starina does not also agree much with his "brother-bishops" of the Kiev Patriarchate regarding the support of the current government. Rather, he exposes personal enrichment and pseudo-patriotism of the current president Petro Poroshenko: "The only thing I have been worried and concerned about is the fate of my Homeland Ukraine, which since 2005 has been governed by dishonest people. Take the current President P. A. Poroshenko, who claims to be Ukraine’s patriot but actually fills his and his relatives’ pockets. For example, in Russia, in the Lipetsk region, he owns a large confectionary factory "Roshen", let alone Ukraine, where prices have risen by 120%. In Russia, his factory is doing well, facing no pressure from the Russian authorities. Thus, war is war, but lunch is schedule. While the majority of Ukrainian citizens live in poverty and do not have an extra penny to feed themselves, to receive medical care and to pay for housing and communal services, whose cost his "loyal" team has raised dozens of times, salaries and pensions are frozen. None of them has conscience to financially assist the poor and miserable people from their personal budget, raised as a result of stripping off their own people. And such examples are many, including the Prime Minister of Ukraine A. P. Yatseniuk, who does not care about the Ukrainian people, because his womb and the wombs of his family come first."

Moreover, "Metropolitan" Adrian even makes a sensational statement: the revolution in Ukraine in 2014 is a cunning scheme of the current government: "After all, these number-one officials of the country, having ingeniously seized power after V. F. Yanukovich, ruled the country under the presidency of V. A. Yushchenko (2005-2010.); they did not do anything good for Ukraine and now – even more so."

And what do we see in the end? There is no formal structure in Russia under the name of "the Kiev Patriarchate", what religious structure Adrian Starina himself belongs to is unknown, but his remarks sound pretty inconsonant with the rhetoric of the Kiev Patriarchate. Most likely, we have got another lie of "Ukrainian schismatics" and their supervisors in the higher echelons of power. The saddest thing is that it is lie that is used as the main tool to manipulate the society by representatives of this religious-political structure. We can assume that under the conditions when the Kiev Patriarchate is accused of seizing UOC churches, they needed a mirror example to expose themselves a victim of "persecution". Thus, they wanted to divert attention from their own nasty affairs in Western Ukraine and repair an established image of "church raiders."

P.S. The following message of "Metropolitan" Adrian has been removed from the site of the Noginsk community, however, as we know, the Internet remembers everything.