Ukrainian security service accuses Orthodox cleric of supporting Russia
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian law enforcement officers stand next to an entrance to the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery compound, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 22, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
META
+0.49%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position
Position added successfully to:
Please name your holdings portfolio
Type:
BUY
SELL
Date:
Amount:
Price
Point Value:
Leverage:
1:1
1:10
1:25
1:50
1:100
1:200
1:400
1:500
1:1000
Commission:
Create New Watchlist
Create
Create a new holdings portfolio
Add
Create
+ Add another position
Close
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s SBU security service accused a senior Orthodox Christian cleric on Friday of engaging in anti-Ukrainian activity by supporting Russian policies in social media posts.
The announcement followed a series of raids of property used by a Ukrainian branch of the Orthodox Church that is historically tied to Russia and has come under increasing pressure since Russia’s invasion.
An SBU statement said an archbishop in a diocese in western Ukraine had distributed posts that «humiliated the national honour and dignity of Ukrainians» and «contributed to the incitement of religious enmity and hatred».
It accused the cleric of using an anonymous profile on Facebook (NASDAQ:META) to spread «narratives of Russian propagandists». It gave no further details.
The Orthodox Church in Russia has backed Moscow’s invasion, and Kyiv says some clerics in Ukraine could be taking orders from Moscow.
Orthodox Church officials in Ukraine did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The SBU later said it had discovered 16 «suspicious people» on the grounds of an Orthodox Church monastery near the defunct Chornobyl nuclear power plant in an area closed to civilians.
They would be charged with being in a forbidden zone and a probe was under way to see whether they had contravened state security laws, it said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the church said last week it had always acted within the framework of Ukrainian law and that the state had no legal grounds to put pressure on its followers.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described the authorities in Kyiv last week as «satanists» and «enemies of Christ and the Orthodox faith».
Orthodox Christians account for the majority of Ukraine’s population. Since the collapse of Soviet rule, tensions have been high between the Moscow-subordinated church and an independent Ukrainian church.
