Ukraine searches Orthodox Church premises for pro-Russian material

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has carried out on Monday a search of several facilities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Poltava region, in the northeast of the country, to prevent them from becoming centers from which to promote the so-called "Russian peace" and possible "terrorist acts".

Ceremony in Ukrainian Orthodox Church. - VOLODYMYR TARASOV / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

With the presence of the religious representatives, the Ukrainian authorities have carried out searches in a monastery of the Poltava and Mirhorod diocese, as well as in the administration of the Kremenchuk and Lubensky dioceses.

In recent weeks, searches have been intensified in a number of religious centers across the country over fears that they may be centers from which attempts are being made to undermine Ukrainian state sovereignty, Ukrinform reports.

In several of these searches, such as those in the dioceses of Transcarpathia, Rivne and Yitomir, the SBU found banned Russian literature, Nazi symbology, manuals on Kremlin propaganda methods and texts praising Patriarch Kirill, the top representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has been sanctioned by several Western countries for his expressed support for the Ukrainian war.