A scathing remark by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has been a response to the US State Department refusal to acknowledge the on-going assault of the Ukrainian rulers on the Christian Orthodox Church.

Western leaders are strictly selective in their perception of reality, preferring to remain blind, deaf and ignorant, wrote Mrs. Zakharova in her official note on the subject.

What a amazing level of integrity, let me tell you that. They decide to stay mute, and they don't care what it takes - they don't see, they don't hear, they don't notice. One ought to have guts, don't you agree? Month after month, with a straight face, with a fresh surprise: "What do you mean? Seizing monastery? Where is this? Persecution of the Orthodox Christians? What are you saying? Violation of human rights and religious freedoms in Ukraine? Haven't heard, honestly."

Seizure of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church property is underway in Kiev and other cities and towns of Ukraine. Over the past year, the Ukrainian rulers have organized the largest wave of persecution against the Orthodox Christians in the country's recent history. Citing the ties of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to Russia, local authorities in various regions of Ukraine have proclaimed it illegal, and a bill has been submitted to the Ukrainian parliament that would legislate it out of existence in the country.

A fake church under the auspices of the clerical authorities in Istanbul has been organized to make it a substitute for Orthodox Christianity.