Kherson, December 13, 2022
According to a cache of documents left behind by Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) officers fleeing the Kherson Province after the start of the war, the state agency had been actively intimidating priests of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church since 2014 Maidan Revolution.
Among the documents discovered, and made available to RIA-Novosti, were reports of Senior SBU Lieutenant O. P. Palamarchuk about carrying out “preventative measures” at the Holy Spirit and St. Catherine Cathedrals in Kherson in January and April 2016.
The officer even writes about planting fake explosives at the churches.
According to the reports, Palamarchuk visited the cathedrals and intimidated the clergy, threatening them with charges of crimes against national security. He described his activities:
In order to create a sense of responsibility for their actions among the clergy and church staff, their attention was drawn to a number of articles and sanctions provided for by the current Criminal Code of Ukraine for crimes against the foundations of national security, civil security, peace, and humanity.
The SBU officer also gave examples of “heroic” residents who participated in fighting in order to “instill a sense of patriotism” in the priests, and intimidated the clergy with stories of the Security Council of Ukraine’s success fighting separatism “and other unconstitutional activities of certain groups and individuals.”
Palamarchuk also describes how he left packages imitating explosive devices at the cathedrals.
According to the reports, the Senior Lieutenant was satisfied with the result of his work.
Back in July, ukraina.ru reported on what the documents reveal about SBU tactics with Kherson residents who privately expressed disagreement with official Ukrainian policy and who believed Ukraine and Russia should remain close.
While acknowledging that such beliefs violate no law, the reports conclude that such citizens could “potentially” commit a crime. The reports tell of one such citizen who was told that a talkative citizen can go to jail. He was later followed by an SBU agent who ensured that he no longer talks about Crimea and Ukrainian-Russian relations with his friends and family.
The same story was repeated with several other citizens, as reported on in the discovered documents.
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