The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate state that Moscow has launched a coordinated information campaign against Constantinople, with Moscow Patriarch Kirill serving as its principal actor.

This was reported in an article published by Orthodox Times.

The Archons emphasize that after Patriarch Bartholomew granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in January 2019, the Moscow Patriarchate broke Eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and began efforts aimed at undermining the unique status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate among the Orthodox patriarchates.

“Attempts are being made to displace it and to assume the special responsibility entrusted by the Ecumenical Councils specifically to the Church of Constantinople, namely the resolution of disputes between Churches and the granting of autocephaly when necessary,” the text states.

A key element of these efforts is the use by the Russian state of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) methods to spread negative and false information about the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The East Stratcom Task Force, a team of experts specializing primarily in communications, journalism, social sciences, and Russian studies within the diplomatic service of the European Union, emphasizes that “Russian disinformation campaigns are not merely a collection of isolated falsehoods. They are the product of a carefully constructed system.”

The article stresses that one of the principal actors in this process has been Moscow Patriarch Kirill.

“In April 2026, while speaking at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs alongside Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kirill made a serious departure from Orthodox tradition by offering a non-canonical criticism of the special prerogatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate within the Holy Orthodox Church,” the Archons note.

Inter-Orthodox relations, Kirill stated, “are currently undergoing a test of fidelity to the canonical order of the Church.” He added that “an alien doctrine concerning the special authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople is being imposed from outside Orthodoxy.” According to him, this allegedly alien doctrine formed the “basis for the Phanar’s interference in the ecclesiastical life of Ukraine, contributing to a prolonged crisis in inter-Orthodox relations.”

The doctrine that he described as alien to Orthodoxy was the idea that the Ecumenical Patriarchate bears responsibility for resolving disputes. “Any attempts,” Kirill said, “to present any of our brethren as possessing special powers over the entire Orthodox oikoumene are sinful from the standpoint of violating church canons.”

“This is a blatant denial of the established canonical order of the Church. The Holy Mother Church of Constantinople exercises the responsibility entrusted to her under the guidance of the Holy Spirit by the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in Chalcedon in 451. The Council decreed: ‘If a bishop or cleric has a dispute with the metropolitan of the province, let him appeal to the exarch of the province or to the throne of the Imperial City of Constantinople, and there let him be judged,’” the authors remind readers.

As is well known, the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, are an influential group of distinguished laypersons dedicated to the defense of religious freedom and the financial support of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople.

As LF previously reported, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service issued a press release claiming that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, described as “the devil in the flesh” and “the Antichrist,” had “turned his dark gaze” toward the Baltic states in order, with the support of British intelligence services, to “drive out Russian Orthodoxy” and establish “puppet structures.”

According to LF, the Synod of the Australian Archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate condemned the accusations made by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service against Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, calling them false and disgraceful.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stated that he is not intimidated by the vile Russian slander directed against him and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He said this in an interview, adding that it is the Russians who should fear the Day of Judgment, if they still believe in God.