Ukraine's Security Service uncovers media block of Russia-aligned church, which incited hostility and worked for FSB – photo

Ukrainian law enforcement services claim to have identified and neutralised a criminal organisation known as the media bloc of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which worked to incite religious hatred.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); Prosecutor General’s Office

Quote SSU: "The SSU dismantled a criminal organisation in Kyiv that was carrying out FSB-commissioned information sabotage. The attackers produced and dispersed pro-Kremlin narratives and provocative messages en masse with the intention of destabilising the socio-political situation and inciting religious hatred in Ukraine.

As a result of a series of measures, the SSU exposed more than 15 members of the group, and 4 key defendants have already been arrested. One of them is a leader of the capital's UOC-MP church, which was part of the Russian special services' agent apparatus."

Quote from the Prosecutor General’s Office: "The members of the group carried out development and coverage of distorted information on the process of transition of the UOC religious community to the OCU [Orthodox Church of Ukraine – ed.] in the media, including in Western countries.

Russian narratives were spread through groups on social media, YouTube video hosting, and media outlets.

More than 20 searches in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi, and Zhytomyr oblasts, as well as the city of Kyiv, yielded evidence of illegal activity, and 14 members of the criminal organisation were served with notices of suspicion."

Details: The SSU reports that it is "one of the largest FSB networks in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion."

The investigation disclosed that the network's coordinator in Ukraine was a cleric, now detained by the officers. He was in charge of distributing materials that incited sectarian conflict and justified an aggressive war against Ukraine.

To accomplish this, the defendant personally instructed the executors – other members of the criminal organisation posing as political experts and creating provocative posts and videos.

The prepared content was distributed via dozens of controlled channels on Telegram and YouTube, as well as Facebook pages and official websites for various UOC-MP dioceses.

As a result, Russian propaganda used this content to spread false information about Ukraine.

Based on the collected evidence, 4 detainees and 10 other members of the criminal organisation were served with notices of suspicion under the following articles of Ukraine's Criminal Code:

• Art. 111.2 (high treason committed under martial law);
• Art. 111-1.6 (collaboration with an enemy);
• Art. 28.4, Art. 255.1, Art. 255.2 (creation and participation in a criminal organisation);
• Art. 161.3 (incitement of religious hatred committed by an organised group);
• Art. 436-2.1, Art. 436-2.2 (justification, recognition as legitimate, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine).

The decision to use detention as a preventive measure for defendants is currently under consideration. An investigation is underway to determine all of the circumstances of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.

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