UKRAINE’S SBU security service said today it carried out “counter-intelligence” measures in churches and monasteries across the country in its most recent descent on religious sites of the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church.  

“The measures were carried out…within the framework of the Security Service of Ukraine’s systematic work to counter the subversive activities of the Russian special services in our country,” the SBU said in a statement.  

The SBU listed over a dozen religious sites in several Ukrainian regions, including the western Lviv region, Kherson region in the south and Zhytomyr region in the northwest.  

The measures aim to “prevent the use of religious communities as a centre of the ‘Russian world’ and to protect the population from provocations and terrorist acts”, the SBU added.  

With its statement, the SBU released photos of its operatives in khaki uniform inspecting religious sites, sometimes accompanied by priests in long black robes.   

It said law enforcement officers searched the territory and premises of religious sites “to identify persons who may be involved in illegal activities to the detriment of the state sovereignty of Ukraine” and “objects prohibited from circulation”.  

Ukraine had been under Moscow’s spiritual leadership since at least the 17th century, but part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church broke with Moscow in 2019 over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Donbas.  

In May, the war caused the Moscow-backed branch of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church to sever ties with Russia, in a historic move against the Russian spiritual authorities.   

Earlier this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine will move to impose limitations on religious organisations in the country that have links to Russia. – AFP, December 14, 2022.