Priest of Moscow-linked church in Vinnytsia exposed for spreading Kremlin narratives – photo
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has documented the subversive activities carried out by the parish priest of a church in the Kalynivka district, in the Vinnytsia Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). The cleric publicly justified Russia's armed aggression.
Source: SSU; the National Police; Vinnytsia Oblast Prosecutor’s Office; an Ukrainska Pravda source in law enforcement agencies
Details: The Ukrainska Pravda source says the man in question is Yevhen Koshelnyk.
The case materials indicate that the man displayed pro-Russian views with a clear anti-Ukrainian stance in communications sent via the Telegram messenger app. To promote his views, he shared relevant text and video materials with his contacts.
The suspect sourced his information from Russian Telegram channels that portray Russia's armed aggression as an internal civil conflict among Ukrainians.
He spread Kremlin propaganda from so-called "Orthodox" Telegram channels about a "holy war against the West, which has fallen into Satanism". The purpose of the propaganda is to bring all of Ukraine's territory "under Russia's exclusive influence".
Among the posts were stories about a "militant from the LPR" [the "Luhansk People’s Republic", a non-recognised breakaway state run by the Russians in Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast – ed.] who supposedly ended up in a Ukrainian "concentration camp", and a fabricated account of a Ukrainian army cluster munition strike on a children's beach in Donetsk Oblast that allegedly resulted in numerous casualties.
The SSU reports that their expert analysis has confirmed that criminal activities took place with the purpose of destabilising the social and political situation in the region.
A mobile phone and computer equipment that had been used for spreading Russian propaganda were seized during searches of the suspect's residence.
Quote from the Prosecutor’s Office: "…a clergyman of the UOC-MP from the Khmilnyk district in Vinnytsia Oblast, a citizen of Ukraine, has been served with a notice of suspicion for justifying and denying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, which began in 2014, as well as glorifying those who carried out this aggression and denying the occupation of part of Ukraine's territory."
Quote from the SSU: "The suspect is under 24-hour house arrest. The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime. The offender faces up to eight years in prison and confiscation of his assets."
Background: On 20 August, Ukrainian Parliament adopted a bill in its entirety, banning religious organisations in Ukraine that are linked to Russia, which could potentially cripple the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).
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