Five months into office, President Viktor Yanukovych has reversed the anti-Russian platform of his predecessor, Orange Revolution hero Viktor Yushchenko, who this year scored only in the single digits in a bid for reelection.

Yanukovych has swung the political pendulum so far and fast in the opposite direction that many believe Ukraine’s democratic future is now in doubt.

Kirill’s solicitations are part of a coordinated, Kremlin-sponsored push to reassert Russian political influence and spiritual control. Although his predecessor, Alexey II, graced Ukraine with visits only twice in an 18-year reign, Kirill is already making his second extended visit just one-and-a-half years into his tenure — and this week pledged a renewed and consistent engagement with Russia’s western neighbor.

During his trip, Kirill is touting the 9-million-strong Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).It faces a challenge from the 14-million member Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, which in 1992 broke away from the Moscow Patriarchate.

"Schism is no longer stylish. It was fashionable in 1990s to promote separatism and disintegration; there was resentment in the air. Now people are tired of that,"a Kirill spokesperson told Ukrainian television on Monday.

In a Ukrainian TV interview ahead of his visit, Kirill said spiritual values defined by Orthodoxy are cherished in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. "These are the values that outline the parameters of a very important cultural and civilizational notion which I would describe as the Russian World."

This paean to Pan-Slavism – or some would allege, neo-Russian imperialism – seeks to diminish Ukraine’s and Ukrainians’ separateness and to legitimate a wider Russian sphere of influenc

Commenting on Kirill’s visit, Patriarch Filaret, who heads the Kyiv Patriarchate, said, “Almost all addresses of Patriarch Kirill on Ukraine are of political character. He has now brought forth an idea of the ‘Russian World,’” but “in reality it is about the revival of the Russian Empire.”

In a similar vein, opposition leader and respected former foreign minister Borys Tarasyuk has flatly rejected Kirill’s “attempts to subvert the foundations of Ukrainian statehood.”

When Christianity came to Kyivan Rus– today’s Kyiv — from Constantinople in 988AD, the city was the capital of the Eastern Slavic antecedent of much of today’s Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.This is a source of pride for Ukrainians – but irksome to official Russia.

Even though Kirill will be in Kyiv on July 28 – the anniversary of 1,022 years of Christianity in Kyivan Rus – he will not be commemorating the occasion together with Kyiv Patriarch Filaret. Ahead of the event Kirill has managed to get a leg up on Filaret.He will deliver a video address to a rock concert celebration planned to take place in a vast park next to Pecherska Lavra, home of the Moscow Patriarchate.The spot overlooks the Dnipro River where in 988 Prince Volodymyr rallied his people to partake in mass baptism.The concert, headlined by the band Resurrection, will include a performance by the Lavra choir.

Says Taras Antoshevskyy, Director of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, "According to the Moscow Patriarchate, the Kyiv Patriarchate doesn’t officially exist. If the two leaders were to meet, that would mean that Kirill recognizes Filaret. They could only meet in a non-public and non-official forum and to date, we don’t know if they’ve done that. But I don’t think Kirill is interested in such a meeting."

Yanukovych, in turn, appears to be enjoying his newfound status with Moscow.President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have visited Ukraine multiple times and signed major agreements on gas, investment and the Russian naval presence at Sevastopol.

Yanukovych has also revoked a ban on revanchist Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov’s entry to Ukraine.In previous stays in heavily ethnic Russian Crimea, Luzhkov has contemptuously called for Sevastopol’s ownership to be transferred to Russia.

Last week Yanukovych interrupted his 45-day "summer rest" to accept a visit from Kirill in Crimea. Days before, Yanukovych refused to meet with the head of Reporters Without Borders, which has warned of disturbing trends in censorship, political pressure, and physical attacks on journalists in Ukraine.

In a first for a Ukrainian president, Kirill bestowed on Yanukovych the Order of Prince Vladimir 1st degree, the Moscow Patriarchate’s highest award. The two have revealed that they share the same literary tastes – nineteenth century Russian writer Anton Chekhov, who in later life lived and wrote in the Crimean resort of Yalta.

A day later Yanukovych was off to greet Putin at a biker rally ahead of the Black Sea Fleet parade in Sevastopol.A primped photo-op included twin Ukrainian and Russian flags on the back of Putin’s Harley Davidson.

At the Black Sea Fleet parade on July 25, Russia announced it was beefing up its naval fleet in Sevastopol, news likely to spark added controversy in Ukraine.

The last week looks like a successful Russia pincer strike — politics and prayer — in Ukraine.What’s more, Ukraine’s president seems to delight in it.