Security Service of Ukraine visits monastery of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate in Sumy Oblast to counteract Russian provocations

Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) are conducting security measures in Sofroniievo-Molchenskyi Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).

Source: press service of the Security Service of Ukraine in Sumy Oblast

Quote: "Law enforcement officers are inspecting the territory and premises [of the monastery – ed.] with the direct participation of representatives of the church to identify persons who may be involved in illegal activities to the detriment of the state sovereignty of Ukraine and items prohibited for circulation."

Details: SSU reports that the measures are carried out within the framework of the SSU systematic work on countering sabotage activities of Russian secret services in Ukraine.

This is also done to prevent the use of religious communities as a centre of the "Russian world" [The term Russkiy Mir, Russian world or Russian order is the concept of the total domination of Russian culture over other cultures – ed.] and to protect the population from provocations and terrorist acts.

Background:

• On 1 December, President Zelenskyy reported that Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to propose that the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian Parliament] institute a ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), and also initiated a review of the legality of the UOC-MP’s presence at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves).
• Zelenskyy has also introduced personal sanctions against some representatives of religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence in the Russian Federation.
• Later, the SSU posted a list of 10 people associated with the UOC-MP who had been sanctioned.
• In recent weeks, the SSU has carried out a series of searches on the premises of the UOC-MP buildings. In particular, inspections have been conducted in Zhytomyr, Rivne, Zakarpattia, Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv and other oblasts.
• On 20 December, the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to unblock the activities of the sanctioned dioceses.

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