The Independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Christian Patriarch of Constantinople, who is the head of Orthodox Christianity, recognized the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as autochthonous earlier this month, thereby making it independent of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

Each national Orthodox Church is led by its own Patriarch.  Ukrainians and Russians speak different languages and have different cultures and histories.  Similarly, the Ukrainian and Russian Catholic Churches are united within Catholicism, but have separate rites and are separately led.

The Russian Orthodox Church, which had been pro-Soviet and is now supportive of the authoritarian and kleptocratic regime of ex-KGB agent Vladimir Putin, objects to the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as the recognition implicitly recognizes the independence of the ex-Soviet Republic of Ukraine from Russia.  Ukraine was granted independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.  The Russian Federation agreed by treaty to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but invaded Ukraine and seized Crimea in 2014 in violation of the treaty.  Russian forces have invaded eastern Ukraine in support of ethnic Russian separatists.  Putin, who ordered the invasion of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia in 2008, has lamented the dissolution of the Soviet Union. 

The independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is thus a recognition of national identity for Ukrainians and for the independence of Ukraine and an implicit rejection of the Soviet nostalgia of Putin and the Russian nationalism and irredentism he uses to maintain power.