Ukraine’s security services on Wednesday found Russian citizens in monasteries of a branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate – which they assured the press were not linked to the Russian invasion.
The findings come as part of an organized investigation into Ukrainian Orthodox Church facilities – including the Unesco World Heritage-listed Kyiv Caves Monastery – with the aim of finding caches of spies and weapons, after singing a song about the awakening of ‘Mother Russia’. at a service in that church.
In addition to Russian citizens, “more than two million hryvnias (equivalent to 52,000 euros), more than 100,000 dollars (about 95,000 euros), several thousand Russian rubles” and “pro-Russian literature, used for studies in seminaries and parochial schools, including for propaganda for the ‘Russian world'”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has embraced the idea of the “Russian world” as one of the justifications for carrying out the “special operation” in Ukraine – the “thinning” of borders between states in the name of united unity. Society about the Russian language.
The SBU also reported that “more than 350 religious buildings and 850 people were thoroughly investigated” and “more than 50 people underwent extensive counterintelligence interviews”.
And from the point of view of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, the searches were seen as an “act of intimidation” against Ukrainian believers.
