The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Onufriy, has admitted that he had Russian citizenship, but claims that this was a long time ago, and now he has only a Ukrainian passport.
He said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
Onufriy stated that he did not consider himself a Russian citizen.
"I don't consider myself a Russian citizen," he said.
Onufriy said that he studied and lived in Russia and, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, was a de facto citizen of Russia.
"Because I had a permanent residence permit in Russia, and this in the modern way meant citizenship," he added.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he acquired Ukrainian citizenship.
At the same time, Russian citizenship, he said, continued automatically.
"But I wasn't interested in it and didn't use it. It didn't matter then and no one persecuted for it. There were good, brotherly relations between Ukraine and Russia. When these relations began to deteriorate, especially for the last ten years, I abandoned Russian citizenship," said the Metropolitan.
The Primate of the UOC (MP) emphasizes that currently he does not have a Russian passport.
"This was especially confirmed when I opposed Russia's war with Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression. I consider myself a citizen only of Ukraine," Onufriy assured.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate refutes the presence of Russian citizenship among the Primate of the UOC Metropolitan Onufriy and other priests of the church.
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