The Ukrainian government is preparing to launch a new institution that would promote Ukrainian unity abroad and counter Russian influence, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 19.
Speaking at the meeting of Ukraine's senior diplomats, Zelensky dubbed the new body "the Ministry for Ukrainian Unity and Countering Russian Influence on Ukrainians." Its focus will be, first of all, on Ukraine's citizens living outside the country.
Even before the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian diaspora has been widespread around the world, with particularly large communities in the EU, the U.S., and Canada.
The war drew millions more from their home, with some 6.6 million registered as refugees as of July 2024. The diaspora's size post-invasion is estimated to be between 12-20 million worldwide.
"We all see Russia using a massive propaganda resource abroad, especially targeting Ukrainians. We see how many aspects of the spiritual independence of our people are not settled and how Russia is using its own church structures for agent work and spreading discord," Zelensky said at the conference called "Wartime Diplomacy: Resilience, Weapons, Victory."
The church matters became the focus of public debate following the outbreak of the full-scale war. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, one of the two major Orthodox churches in the country, has been accused of sympathies and links to Russia.
It is not to be confused with the autocephalous (autonomous) Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the country's largest church in terms of the number of followers.
A bill that would ban activities of religious organizations affiliated with pro-Russian propaganda or justifying Moscow's aggression – commonly seen as referring to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate – is being considered in the parliament.
"We also recognize that the educational, cultural, and informational needs of Ukrainians in other countries require greater activity from our state," the president added.
According to Zelensky, this is a fundamental task for Ukraine as the country has never had such a large number of its citizens living abroad.
"I believe that the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine cannot handle this task alone... It also would be wrong to simply expect various ministries and departments to carry out their respective tasks on their own," the president said.
"We need an institution that will lead other state institutions towards these defined goals," Zelensky noted, promising "all the details in the near future."
Martin Fornusek
