Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the Ukrainian parliament have directly lobbied the Phanar precisely for autocephaly, which would be a boon to the majority of Ukrainians who place a high value on the assertion of a national identity that is starkly distinct from that of Russia. The Universal Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Bartholemew I, has decided to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, according to a Greek church site, giving a major victory to Kyiv and inflicting an even larger geopolitical defeat on the Moscow Patriarchate and the Kremlin. Today there are three Orthodox Church branches based in Kiev:

the Kiev Patriarchate, headed by Metropolitan Filaret, which does not recognise Moscow's authority

the Ukrainian Orthodox Church loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate

and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, founded in 1921 in defiance of Moscow and relaunched during World War Two, but repressed during Soviet rule. Image copyright AFP Image caption A rare event: Patriarch Kirill (C) meets Bartholomew (R) and other Orthodox priests in Istanbul

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko says top clerics in the Orthodox Church are now ready to grant independence to the Kiev Church, defying Moscow.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko states that the Orthodox Church intends to grant the Kiev Patriarchate autocephaly.