The issue of legal boundaries of the Moscow Patriarch according to the acts of the Council of Constantinople in 1593, the missive of the Patriarch Dionysius IV in 1686 and the 17th canon of the Forth Ecumenical Council

The article covers the topical question for the modern Orthodox society that is the issue of the legal boundaries of the Moscow Patriarchy. The question became especially acute being motivated by Ukraine temporality in achieving autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. There is a tense dispute between Constantinople and Moscow – did Moscow get a right of jurisdiction over the Kyivan Metropolitanate that had initially been under the jurisdiction of Constantinople? The apologist for Moscow jurisdiction was priest Mikhail Zheltov, the Candidate of Theology. Nevertheless his fundamental and seemingly profound essay “Historical canonical bases for the unity of the Russian Church” was fairly disgraced by both secular scholars and specialists in ecclesiastic law, especially by canonist of Constantinople Patriarchy. However, pointing out weak points in Zheltov's essay the critics also criticized the negation of canonicity of Moscow Patriarchy jurisdiction over the Kyivan Metropolitanate. Moreover, this article will prove demonstratively that disputable findings of father Mikhail do not mean that canonist of Constantinople have perfect arguments. The settlement of the question in scientific-canonical form has significant importance in overcoming the crisis between Constantinople and Moscow as well as in Ukrainian Orthodoxy divided into warring fractions like Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchy, and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.