Ukrainian special services (SBU) announced on Wednesday that they had searched Orthodox churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine in the context of increased pressure on this branch amid the Russian invasion, AFP reports.
According to the SBU, 19 monasteries, cathedrals and churches in several regions of Ukraine came under “counterintelligence measures”. He motivated the raids by trying to “counteract the subversive activities of the Russian special services” in the country.
Ukrainian services said they had discovered “Russian passports, propaganda literature and permits” issued by the occupation authorities.
“In these publications, representatives of Russia deny the existence of the Ukrainian people, their language and culture, question the Ukrainian state,” the SBU message in Telegram reads.
The Orthodox Church, which depends on the Moscow Patriarchate, has been under pressure from the Ukrainian authorities since the beginning of the Russian invasion of the country on February 24.
In early December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced his intention to question the status of this branch of the Orthodox Church and limit the activities of religious organizations affiliated with Russia.
Searches against the Moscow branch were already carried out in November, including in a well-known monastery in the capital Kyiv.
In recent weeks, the authorities have also imposed sanctions against about 15 high-ranking figures of this denomination for their stance in favor of Moscow or for cooperation with the Russian occupation forces.
Ukraine, a predominantly Orthodox country, is divided between a Church dependent on the Moscow Patriarchate, which announced in late May it was severing ties with Russia over the invasion, and an independent Church under Russian tutelage.
The latter was created at the end of 2018 and pledged allegiance to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which is located in Istanbul.
The Russian Orthodox Church, whose patriarch Kirill is a key supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, condemned the raids in Ukraine as an “act of intimidation” of believers.
Source: Hot News
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