We are talking about the objects of the UOC MP in the Cherkasy, Volyn and Kherson regions.
The Security Service of Ukraine carries out security (counter-intelligence) measures at the facilities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in three regions of Ukraine: Cherkasy, Volyn, and Kherson.
As noted in the press service of the SBU, it is about:
- Exaltation of the Cross Czartoryi Men’s Monastery of the Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP);
- Mykolaiv Miletsky Men’s Monastery of the Volodymyr-Volyn Eparchy of the UOC (MP);
- Dormition Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kherson);
- Office of the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC;
- St. Michael’s Cathedral (Cherkasy);
- Sunday school and library of the Cherkasy diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Cherkasy);
- Office of the Uman-Zvenyhorod Eparchy (Uman);
- St. George’s Convent (Uman district);
- Churches of Andrew the First-Called (Cherkasy);
- Holy Trinity Matronynsky Convent (Cherkasky district);
- Krasnohirsky Holy Pokrovsky Convent (Zolotoni district);
- the religious community of the Parish of Saint Sophronius, Bishop of Irkutsk (Cherkasy);
- Kaniv Dormition Cathedral (Kaniv, Cherkasy district).
The SBU added that security measures are being carried out jointly with the National Police and the National Guard as part of systematic work to counter the subversive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine.
“Given the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, these measures are carried out to prevent the use of religious communities as a center of the “Russian world” and to protect the population from provocations and terrorist acts,” the message reads.
With the direct participation of representatives of the church, law enforcement officers conduct an inspection of the territory and premises in order to identify persons who may be involved in illegal activities to the detriment of the state sovereignty of Ukraine and objects prohibited from handling.
Searches in the UOC MP
In November, law enforcement officers began to search UOC MP churches in various regions of Ukraine. In particular, on November 22, the SBU searched the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra after information spread in the media that the “Russian world” was glorified in one of the temples.
According to the SBU, more than 350 church buildings and 850 people were checked, of which more than 50 people were questioned. Among them were both citizens of Ukraine and foreigners, namely Russians. During the inspections, law enforcement officers found a lot of Russian propaganda literature that denies the existence of Ukraine.
And during searches of the St. Nicholas Church of the Chernivtsi Diocese, the UOC MP found documents about Russian citizenship in the hands of the diocese’s leadership. In addition, a video with child pornography was found in the notebook of these pro-Russian “priests”. Moreover, during the searches, security forces caught the secretary of the diocese, Nikita, in bed with a naked boy who sings in a local choir. It is reported that the SBU entered the cell, where the archimandrite lives, at the moment of physical intimacy with the chorister.
