What U.S. Readers Should Know About Public Orthodoxy's Ukrainian Author

We find ourselves in a familiar place. Once again, the UOJ’s American branch has been accused of publishing deeply biased narratives in service of an ideological cause. The accusation comes from Public Orthodoxy, a publication of the Center for Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University — a group that no one would ever accuse of ideological bias. 

When Public Orthodoxy published the piece, we didn’t find it worth responding to. When the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate answered the call and dutifully republished the article, this was also to be expected. Now the Orthodox Observer, the official organ of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, has also shared the piece. More and more, this seems like a coordinated effort to discredit the UOJ.

As such, we feel obligated to tell our readers exactly who the author, Yevhen Filipishyn, is. And we will not resort to weaselly insinuations akin to, “There are no publicly available documents that formally designate UOJ as an official organ of the UOC‑MP.” What follows is all public information.

According to his LinkedIn, Filipishyn served as a Senior Military Analyst for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) from 2011-2020. Filipishyn writes, “The years 2015–2022 in Ukraine should remain in view when UOJ now speaks in the name of a ‘global Orthodox community’,”; we, too, can say the years 2011-2020 should remain in view when Filipishyn speaks. Filipishyn is not an unbiased academic. He is an intelligence operative, a veteran of Ukraine’s version of the FBI. 

Incidentally, the SBU is the agency charged with seizing parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), arresting UOC bishops, and pressing UOC priests into military service. In other words, Filipishyn was an operative of the very intelligence agency persecuting the UOC and journalists who report on that persecution — including the original UOJ in Ukraine.

Filipishyn’s profile on Public Orthodoxy states that he now serves as the Director of the Center for Societal Monitoring in Kyiv. It’s a suitably Orwellian name, given that its leader is (quite literally) a spy pretending to be a journalist.

Filipishyn claims that, “In UOJ’s publications, the UOC‑MP is consistently portrayed as a ‘persecuted Church’ under pressure from the state and Ukrainian nationalists. This narrative resonated strongly with many believers who experienced rapid political change as a threat to spiritual stability.”

Lest there be any doubt, readers can check the UOJ’s own reporting on how Filipishyn’s comrades in the SBU have persecuted the canonical Church in Ukraine.

A notable recent example took place this past Christmas. The UOC celebrates the Nativity of Our Lord according to the Old Calendar — as opposed to the state-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which follows the New Calendar, per the Ukrainian government’s orders. 

In the weeks leading up to Old-Style Christmas, the SBU posted a video which shows officers with automatic rifles breaking down the door of an apartment. Over the video, the authors placed the caption: “Who comes knocking to ‘carol’ for those who celebrate Christmas on January 7.”

We also note this little irony: While criticizing UOJ-America for our “Ukrainian roots,” Public Orthodoxy proudly states that its hit piece was “prepared in Ukraine at the request of the editors.” 

We at UOJ-America are proud of our colleagues in Ukraine. They’re citizen-journalists whose only “crime” is reporting on the illiberal and illegal activities of their own government. As American patriots, we can’t help but sympathize with their plight and admire their courage.

All our Ukrainian branch has ever done is report the facts of the UOC’s persecution. They’ve paid for it, too, as Filipishyn even acknowledges that the UOJ has been subject to sanctions and office raids as punishment for their reporting on the canonical Church. He leaves out, of course, their imprisonment, interrogation, exile, and continued harassment while living abroad.

He then notes wistfully that our branch here in the United States “takes place under different legal and social conditions” since “in the United States, freedom of speech is strongly protected.” Darn those First Amendment rights!

At UOJ-America, our top priority is to inform our fellow Americans about what’s happening in American Orthodoxy. We can’t turn a blind eye to what is happening in Ukraine, however — especially since our own government is deeply complicit in the UOC’s persecution.

And to be clear, ours is not a fringe position. The United Nations, the Vatican, and even the World Council of Churches have issued statements on the Ukrainian government’s treatment of the UOC. It should also be noted that, of the 14 universally recognized autocephalous Orthodox churches, only three fully recognize the state-backed OCU: Constantinople, Alexandria, and Greece.

Is it any wonder then why the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its subordinates are viciously attacking us on a near daily basis?

As always, Public Orthodoxy claims to represent “mainstream” opinion while giving voice to an extreme minority. Now, they hire a (literal!) foreign spy to accuse UOJ-America of serving another country’s interests. If our critics are this desperate to land even a glancing blow — well, we must be doing something right.

Benjamin Dixon | Editor-in-Chief

Michael W. Davis | General Editor

Aaron Hickman | News Editor