"The appointment of the exarchs is a gross violation of the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Appointment of the exarchs to Kiev took place without the knowledge of the most blessed metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine, Onufry as the single canonical bishop of the city of Kiev. Responsibility for the possible negative consequences of this act will lie with the Constantinople Patriarchate, "the text reads.
It is also noted that this decision contradicts the second rule of the Second Ecumenical (Constantinopolitan) Council: "Not being invited, the bishops do not go beyond their own area."
Earlier it was reported that the Patriarchate of Constantinople had appointed two exarchs to Kiev "in preparation for granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine."
Vladimir Legoyda, Chairman of the Synodal Department for the Relations of the Church with the Society and Mass Media of the Moscow Patriarchate, commented on what had happened.
Also, State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov, in an interview with the FAN, evaluated the idea of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko about creating an autocephalous local church.