Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a tool for the intensification of the Russian-Ukrainian territorial and political conflict

The study discusses the fact of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the Patriarch of Constantinople as a political move aimed at aggravating Russian-Ukrainian relations at the present stage. The authors note the following reasons for this decision: the struggle of Constantinople and Moscow for primacy in the Orthodox world, the geopolitical factors in Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the role of the USA as a destabilizing factor in Russian-Ukrainian relations, an appeal of the President of Ukraine P. Poroshenko to Ukrainian autocephaly issue as a key point in his election program in terms of low public approval rating. Based on sociological data, the research examines the spiritual and religious influence of the Ukrainian Orthodox churches opposing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, i.e. the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, and the Ukrainian Uniate Church. In conclusion, the study presents two possible development scenarios: Polish (the autocephalous church will later return to the Russian Orthodox Church) and Lithuanian ones (the spiritual confrontation of churches will develop against the background of aggravating geopolitical contradictions in the region).