Andriy Tkachov, mitred archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church
Andriy Tkachov/ Archpriest Andriy Tkachov’s Facebook
Andriy Tkachov is a propagandist, a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, and a mitred archpriest. He left Ukraine for Russia in 2014. He is currently serving as a cleric at St. Basil the Great Church, located in the Patriarchal Court, in the village of Zaitsevo, Odintsovo District, Moscow Oblast.
He is known for his anti-Ukrainian views and has repeatedly made statements opposing Ukraine’s existence as a state.
In January 2014, he spoke negatively about the Maidan protests, wishing its participants “fear, sickness, and unrest.”He expressed joy about leaving Ukraine in 2014, referring to it as a “quasi-state Ukraine.”
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he stated that “the war has not begun, but it is ending.”
He stated that “real nits, the kingdom of lies, the children of the devil, America and the chain dog – the Ukronazis” are fighting against the Russian Federation.
At the end of March 2022, he indicated that it was too late to hold negotiations then; it was necessary to wait until the Russian soldiers completed their task.
He called the torture and murder of civilians in Bucha by the Russian occupiers a “fake” that was allegedly organised by the Ukrainian side, “throwing corpses there.”
*The material was created in cooperation with the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
Main statements
1. He accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of lying when saying there is no Nazism in Ukraine. (September 1, 2022)
2. He stated that Russia had not started the war, but it is ending it (February 25, 2022)
Tkachov stated that the Russian Federation was ending an eight-year war, claiming that all the troubles began with the Maidan protests. He justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, arguing that it was necessary to act preemptively; otherwise, he suggested, Ukrainians would eventually have attacked the Russian Federation.
2. He accused Ukrainians of using the slogan “Ukraine above all!” and equated this phrase to the statements of the Nazis during World War II (February 27, 2022)
4. He stated that “Ukrainians hate Russians and dream of driving tanks around Moscow” (February 27, 2022)
5. He claimed Russia was forced to attack first, arguing that a “weaponized, brutalized Ukraine enslaved by Nazi ideology” would have attacked Russia within a year or two. (February 27, 2022)
6.He claimed that Russia is “saving the whole world” with its war against Ukraine (February 27, 2022)
According to him, if the world does not turn into the “kingdom of the Antichrist,” it will be “only thanks to Russian weapons and the Orthodox faith.”
7. He called Ukrainians “hostages of the Ukrainian authorities” and accused the West of waging war (March 1, 2022)
8. He stated about the alleged presence of American bio laboratories in Ukraine (March 1, 2022)
9. He stated that Ukraine was under fascist occupation, endangering civilians and using them as hostages and human shields (March 4, 2022).
10. He supported the Russian occupiers and stated that they were “fighting for life on Earth” (October 9, 2022)
11. He called the war in Ukraine religious, and the Russian Federation the “new Israel” (October 12, 2022)
