New searches of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate: Security Service of Ukraine finds propaganda denying existence of Ukraine
Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and National Police have found a large amount of anti-Ukrainian materials while conducting a counterintelligence security operation at Pochayiv theological seminary and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in Ivano-Frankivsk.
Source: the SSU
Details: In particular, the SSU has found literature that denies the existence of the Ukrainian nation, its language and Ukraine’s sovereignty, and emphasises that it is an artificially created state.
The Security Service has also discovered brochures and books of a xenophobic and hateful nature, which contain pejorative falsehoods about other nationalities and religions.
Most of the said literature is written in Russia and printed in Russian publishing houses.
The SSU is examining the origin of the "Almighty Don Host" symbols, samples of which have been found in one of the storerooms of the Ivano-Frankivsk Eparchy. These refer to the insignia of this illegal armed formation, which aided the Russians in occupying Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in 2014.
Quote: "All this material evidence constitutes grounds to open criminal proceedings under article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of citizen’s equality based on their racial, national, regional independence, religious beliefs, disability and other attributes). Currently, these materials have all been sent for independent examinations.
Further procedural steps will be taken according to the results of these examinations".
Details: Searches were conducted in Pochayiv Lavra and at the Ivano-Frankivsk Eparchy on 25 November and 27 November respectively.
Background:
Early on 22 November, the SSU conducted counterintelligence measures at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra of the Holy Dormition (the Monastery of the Caves) in Kyiv.
The SSU press office reported that these measures were taken jointly with the National Police and the National Guard as part of its systematic efforts to counter sabotage activities being conducted by the Russian secret services in Ukraine.
In addition to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the SSU visited a UOC-MP monastery in Rivne Oblast, looking for sabotage and reconnaissance groups and weapons.
Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the searches at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra showed that Ukraine was at war with the Russian Orthodox Church.
The SSU later reported that it had inspected 350 UOC-MP buildings and found "suspicious" Russian citizens, money, and brainwashing literature.
The SSU conducted searches in the Chernivtsi-Bukovina diocese of the UOC-MP and found documents confirming that its leaders had Russian citizenship, as well as Moscow manuals for conducting church services, and a huge batch of pro-Kremlin literature.
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