We cannot ignore the video material actively circulating online by Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, containing his speech and assessments of the situation of the Abkhaz Orthodox Church.

It should be noted immediately that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strictly adheres to a position of non-interference in the affairs of the Abkhaz clergy and views all existing internal church issues as internal aspects of the religious community, not within the scope of state regulation. However, despite his stated separation of the political and the ecclesiastical, the archpriest's speech went beyond purely religious discussions into the political and diplomatic realm. Regrettably, we are forced to note that

Archpriest Yakimchuk's speech contained derogatory and offensive statements directed at the Abkhaz people, particularly their spiritual and religious practices, and the political leadership of Abkhazia, as well as a loose and one-sided interpretation of the events of the Patriotic War of the People of Abkhazia in 1992–1993.

According to the archpriest, the Georgian and Greek populations were "expelled" from Abkhazia, and modern public life in the Republic is impossible without antagonistic rhetoric directed at individuals of Georgian ethnicity. We would like to recall that the Republic of Abkhazia, in an attempt to resolve the military conflict with Georgia, unilaterally facilitated the return of tens of thousands of Georgian refugees. This resulted in a protracted, bloody war of sabotage, which claimed the lives of 117 Russian peacekeepers operating under a UN mandate, and was accompanied by the abduction and execution of civilians.

Furthermore, the archpriest attributes the forced displacement of Greeks to the victory of the Abkhaz people, while the direct cause of the exodus of the majority of the Greek population from Abkhazia was the robbery, murder, violence, and other war crimes committed by the troops of the State Council of Georgia and the armed Mkhedrioni units in the first months of the war, which had received the blessing of the Georgian Orthodox Church to conduct military operations.

The Abkhaz state, home to representatives of various ethnic groups and faiths, does not tolerate oppression based on nationality. This is confirmed by the significant Greek diaspora living in the Republic of Abkhazia today. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia strongly condemns this assessment, which not only does not correspond to reality, but also artificially cements the image of the Abkhaz people as aggressors, actively promoted by the Georgian authorities in order to shift blame for their criminal actions onto others.

Statements containing direct insults against state institutions of the Republic of Abkhazia, including allegations of systematic bribery, are also categorically unacceptable. Such statements are openly provocative and undermine the authority of the state authorities of the Republic of Abkhazia.

The crowning achievement of Yakimchuk's outrageous statements was the question of the ethnogenesis of the Abkhaz people. Attempts to portray residents of the Republic of
Abkhazia of Abkhaz origin as "settlers from Adygea" are viewed by the Republic of Abkhazia as a replication of the anti-scientific legacy of Pavel Ingorokva, refuted by prominent figures in Abkhaz, Russian, and Georgian academics.
Using his clergy and public platform, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk effectively disseminates distorted and harmful narratives regarding the Abkhaz people, echoing the rhetoric of both the Georgian Orthodox Church and the political leadership of Georgia. It is equally regrettable that such a high-ranking official, responsible for the Moscow Patriarchate's external relations, demonstrates a complete lack of competence in all of the above-mentioned matters, which cannot but cause bewilderment on the part of the Republic of Abkhazia.

In this regard, we consider it appropriate to recommend that Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk refrain from distorting historical facts, adhere to the principles of respect and humanity, as befits a clergyman of such high rank, and refrain from going against the official policy of the Russian Federation, as reflected in the fraternal and allied nature of relations between Abkhazia and Russia.