SBU raids Moscow Patriarchate’s Nativity of Christ Church in Ivano-Frankivsk
SBU conducts events on the territory of the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk (Photo:Управління СБ України в Івано-Франківській області/Facebook)
Ukraine’s SBU security service is conducting searches of a religious administration building of the Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in Ivano-Frankivsk, the state security agency’s press service reported on Facebook on Nov. 27.
The raid is being conducted jointly with the National Police and the National Guard as part of the agency’s campaign to counter the subversive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine.
In a comment to public broadcaster Suspilne, the SBU confirmed that the inspection is taking place on the territory of the Church of the Nativity of Christ and inside the building, which is on Dovzhenko Street in Ivano-Frankivsk.
Law enforcement officers, along with representatives of the church are inspecting the territory and premises of the diocese "to identify items prohibited for circulation,” the SBU said.
They are also checking people for their possible involvement in illegal activities to the detriment of the state, the security service said.
It said all of its actions are being carried out under current legislation in order to:
- investigate allegations of the intention to use the diocese as a center of the "Russian world";
- prevent the use of the UOC premises for hiding Russian citizens, storing prohibited items, etc;
- protect the population from provocations and terrorist acts.
On Nov. 25, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted counterintelligence activities at the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). In the process, they found manuals from Moscow, as well as Russian citizenship documents and certificates.
A similar check was conducted in the monasteries of the Moscow Patriarchate in Rivne Oblast.
The SBU explained that these measures were taken as part of a systematic work "to counter the subversive activities of Russian special services in Ukraine."
According to outlet LB.ua, during searches in the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the UOC (MP), the SBU found its secretary in bed with a boy from the local choir. The journalists also published a photo showing Archimandrite Nikita with a boy in his underwear.
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