Border guards hand another UOC-MP priest over to Security Service of Ukraine

Members of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine have exposed another admirer of "Russian world" among the clergymen of the UOC-MP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate) and handed him over to the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) for a check-up.

Source: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

Details: A few days ago border guards stopped a UOC-MP priest at the entrance to Kyiv for a check. He appeared to be a 43-year old man from Kyiv.

Pro-Russia content was discovered in the priest’s phone, including posts with pro-Russian narratives on a Russian social media platform.

The detainee is also subscribed to a number of Russian pages on Facebook, including that of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and of Viktor Yanukovych, former pro-Russian President of Ukraine.

Moreover, having checkee messenger chats, the border guards learned from the messages that the priest transferred money to Russian bank accounts many times and even sent additional 100 hryvnias [$3 – ed.] per a prayer according to the rouble exchange rate.

When open sources were checked for any information about the priest, it was revealed that he called for cancelling the mobilisation to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2015, he called upon Ukrainians to dodge military service with reference to the "Thou shalt not kill" testament, spreading false information about the Revolution of Dignity [the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capital Kyiv culminated in the ousting of elected President Viktor Yanukovych and a return to the 2004 Constitution – ed.], etc.

The detainee has been handed over to the SSU.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!