THE ROLE OF UKRAINIAN ORTHODOXISM IN THE FORMATION OF UKRAINIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY AND THE SIMPLIFICATION OF RUSSIAN MYTHS AND FAKES OF UKRAINIAN HISTORY


DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2520-2626/2026.38.20

Yurii FIHURNYI, Olga SHAKUROVA

Abstract


Abstract. The article analyzes the role of Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the formation of Ukrainian national identity and in refuting Russian myths and falsifications of Ukrainian history. The essence of the terms “Ukrainian Orthodoxy”, “Ukrainian national identity”, “Russian world”, “refutation of Russian myths and falsifications of Ukrainian history”, “Rus-sian-Ukrainian war” is revealed. It has been established that Ukrainian Orthodoxy is a global phenomenon, since from the time of the baptism of Rus-Ukraine to this day it has contributed to Ukrainian ethnogenesis, state formation, nation formation, and ethnocultural formation, especially these processes intensified with the restoration of the Ukrainian state in 1991. It has been revealed that Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko) played a significant role in the institutionali-zation of Ukrainian Orthodoxy at the turn of the millennium. It was found that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate became the catalyst for the renewal of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. It was noted that the Russian-Ukrainian war accelerated Ukrainian ethnic, state-building, nation-building and ethno-cultural processes, thereby forcing the citizens of the Ukrainian state to unite around the idea of preserving and developing statehood and national identity. It is revealed that in this existential struggle with the enemy, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine not only performs pastoral care over believers, but also actively forms Ukrainian national identity and systematically refutes Russian myths and falsifications of Ukrainian history. It is substantiated that Russian aggres-sors consistently promote the narrative about the non-canonicality of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and try to con-vince Ukrainian society of the exceptional divinely chosenness of the Russian Orthodox Church and its puppet in Ukraine – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. A model for refuting the Russian fake about the non-canonicality of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is published.

Keywords


Ukrainian state, Ukrainian citizens, Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Russian Orthodox Church, "Russian world", Russian-Ukrainian war

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