By Kostas Onisenko
In the new narrative promoted by the Russians regarding the commemoration of Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and all Ukraine by Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, it is stated that “the commemoration itself does not entail recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine since it has not been approved by the Holy Synod.” We can deduce from this that Russia’s centers of influence on Cyprus will try to sow discord and provoke as many reactions as possible against the Archbishop in the coming days.
People in the sphere of influence of the Moscow Patriarchate use in their unofficial statements the aforementioned argument while real commentators who support the Russian views and pro-Russian bots respond to the reports in Ukrainian media regarding the commemoration of Metropolitan Epifaniy by the Archbishop.
The aim of the misinformation campaign on social media and in the media is obviously to create confusion about the actual commemoration of Metropolitan Epifaniy to an audience that does not know the church procedures well enough with the aim of giving valuable time (a few days) to the Russian centers of influence to push the Archbishop of Cyprus to change his opinion under the pressure of people and conditions that are more or less controlled by Russian funds.
