What is green light for Syrsky is red light for UOC?

The attitude of the authorities to the past of O. Syrsky and the UOC is quite different. Photo: UOJ

On February 8, 2024, Zelensky dismissed Valeriy Zaluzhny from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and appointed Oleksandr Syrsky to this position. Almost immediately, information began to circle on the Internet about the Russian roots of the new commander, pro-Putin views of his close relatives, and so on. In response, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine stated that this was all a campaign by Russian special services aimed at discrediting both the commander himself and the entire Ukrainian government.

Perhaps it is all true. However, there is no smoke without fire. Syrsky is indeed an ethnic Russian, born in the Vladimir region, and studied at the Moscow Higher Command School.

As numerous Telegram channels write, Syrsky's parents and brother still live in Russia. His father, Stanislav Syrsky, is a retired military officer, a colonel of the Russian Armed Forces. Telegram channels claim that the parents of the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces express an active pro-Russian position, and as evidence, they cite photos from social networks. For example, the mother of the new Commander-in-Chief, Lyudmila Syrska, is attributed with posts where, as claimed, she praises the Russian leader V. Putin.

If we believe Telegram channels, this post was published by Lyudmila Syrska on April 21, 2022, after the Russian troops occupied Bucha and other suburbs of Kyiv, while her son, Oleksandr Syrsky, was commanding the defense of the capital.

By the way, Oleksandr Syrsky is not the only one who began his military career in Russia and graduated from Russian military academies, where, as we know, ideological indoctrination of cadets was unavoidable. Here are a few more examples:

• Army General Stepan Poltorak, Minister of Defense of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019 – Ordzhonikidze Command College of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.
• Army General Viktor Muzhenko, Chief of the General Staff and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine until May 21, 2019 – Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School of the USSR Armed Forces.
• Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak, Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine until March 27, 2020 – Moscow Higher Military Command School named after the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.
• Lieutenant General Sergey Naev, Commander of the Joint Forces, graduated from the Kalinin Suvorov Military School in Tver and the Moscow Higher Military Command School named after the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.
• Lieutenant General Mikhail Zabrodsky, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – Military Engineering and Space Academy named after A.F. Mozhaysky in St. Petersburg, followed by 5 years of service in the Russian army.
• Vladimir Artyukh, Head of the Sumy Military Administration – Yu.A. Gagarin Air Force Academy in the Moscow region.

"What's the point?" one might ask. What significance does Syrsky's and other Ukrainian generals' background have if they have repeatedly proved their patriotism to Ukraine through their service? What significance do the views of their relatives have?

And these are perfectly legitimate questions. Absolutely none.

So why then do we, as a religious resource, even write about this? Does Syrsky and his background have anything to do with the UOC or the religious theme in general? Unfortunately, it does, and directly so. The point is that the authorities and public at large sling mud at UOC priests, hierarchs, and the Church on the whole over much less obvious "Russianness" than that of the new commander.

Therefore, the question arises. Why is the "Russian" past of Syrsky considered "normal" by the authorities, while the past of the UOC is considered "treacherous"?

Let's remember what the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) managed to find during the very first large-scale searches in the monasteries and diocesan administrations of the UOC in November 2022.

A couple of Russian newspapers and magazines, several thousand rubles, church literature published in Russia, SBU-planted leaflets: the level of these "evidences" is approximately the same as the reports of the anti-Ukrainian position of Syrsky's relatives. But look at how much hate was unleashed against the UOC in the media and social networks after the publication of these "evidences"! How they insulted and slandered the Lavra monks!

And this is just a drop in the ocean. Here are a couple more examples.

After the brutal beating of UOC clergy during the seizure of the Nativity of the Virgin Monastery in Cherkasy, the media threw in as "evidence" a photo of a book found in the temple titled "Lead my soul out of dungeon. Spiritual advice for healing the soul." What's the "crime" of the UOC here? The book was published by the ROC.

After a similar brutal seizure in Ladyzhyn, the local press circulated "compromising" photos from the Kazan Cathedral icons of the Royal Martyrs, St. Hermogenes, or prayer books with liturgical instructions published by the ROC with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy and even Kirill.

And the pinnacle of such "criminality" could be considered the raider seizure in Trebukhiv, where activists dumped Bibles and prayer books into a landfill just because they were published in Moscow (15 years ago).

So today, the UOC is accused of such wild "ties" with the aggressor that one might question the mental health of those accusers.

Anyway, let's get back to individuals. Let's remember how much reproach was poured on the head of the Lavra abbot, Metropolitan Pavel, when he said that his sister lives in Russia. Here's one of the headlines, which reads as follows: "Pasha-Mercedes (derogative name in relation to Metropoltian Pavel coined by Ukrainian mass media - Ed.) brazenly refused to acknowledge the RF as an aggressor country." Subtitle: "The scandalous metropolitan stated cynically that he cannot call the RF as an aggressor country due to his sister ostensibly living in Russia."  

"Brazenly," "cynically" – hatred and defamation are embodied in the headline of the publication. And yet, Metropolitan Pavel did not say anything anti-Ukrainian; here's the exact quote: "I do not consider the Russian Federation an aggressor because my sister lives there. But I condemn those who commit this aggression... Yet, should I call my sister an aggressor?"

Let's reiterate. The fact that someone's relatives live in Russia doesn't say anything. But why is it that the fact of Syrsky's father, mother, and brother being in Russia is not condemned, whereas Metropolitan's Pavel's sister living in the same Russia is presented in the media as another sign of his "lack of patriotism"?

How many accusations are made against the UOC regarding the alleged headquarters being located in Russia! When representatives of the UOC try to explain that this is not the case and that it is governed by the Ukrainian Synod and other bodies located in Ukraine, when after the UOC Council in Feofaniya on May 27, 2022, all liturgical mentions of the ROC were removed from the UOC Statute, they are told that the UOC is still under the influence of Russia, whether it be administrative or ideological.

And on this basis, they want to legislatively ban the UOC now. But at the same time, a person whose parents live in Russia and due to their parental status may influence him is appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, we do not see any campaign in the media and social networks stirring up the issue of Syrsky's "treason" or "lack of patriotism" despite the fact that the fate of Ukraine in confrontation with the aggressor directly depends on Syrsky (unlike priests and believers of the UOC). Why are there such obvious double standards here?

Why are priests somewhere in Rivne, who have never been to Russia, called "Moskals", while the Commander-in-Chief, who "canonically and historically" has a bunch of fellow officers from Moscow due to his past, is an unquestionable patriot?

Undoubtedly, from a common-sense perspective, there is nothing criminal or reprehensible in his family ties or the place of his education. But if we apply "common sense" to Syrsky, we should apply the same logic in relation to representatives of the UOC. So that photos of church books published in Russia are not displayed in the media, and people do not scream, "Alarm! Treason!" So that they do not search for Russian roots among Ukrainian hierarchs and do not spread it in the media as evidence of their "anti-Ukrainian position". So that all citizens of Ukraine receive equal treatment. So that the rights of every person are equally protected. So that the honor and dignity of everyone are respected regardless of their religious affiliation.

Perhaps only then will we truly become a "united country". In reality, rather than in pompous hypocritical speeches of Ukrainian officials.

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