Kiev, March 13, 2024
The SBU detained employees of the Union of Orthodox Journalists. Photo: SBU
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) raided the offices of Orthodox journalists and Orthodox lawyers yesterday.
SBU representatives raided the offices of employees of the Ukrainian Orthodox outlet Union of Orthodox Journalists and took away computer equipment and telephones, the Union itself reported yesterday.
The SBU later published a message, referring to the raid, in which they allegedly found evidence against 15 people, four of whom were detained, as “the neutralization of a criminal organization in Kiev that carried out information sabotage ordered by the FSB [Russian Security Services].”
According to the SBU, the people raided “massively produced and dispersed pro-Kremlin narratives” aimed at destabilizing the country and inciting religious enmity.
They allegedly produced “custom-made” materials that were then picked up by Russian media outlets. However, the message later states that the people involved allegedly distributed their content to Ukrainian Church outlets.
One of the four men detained is the rector of a church in the capital.
The men were formally informed of suspicious for:
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high treason committed under martial law
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collaborative activities
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creation of and participation in a criminal organization
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incitement of religious enmity and hatred by an organized group
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justification or denial of the armed aggression of Russian against Ukraine
The men face the possibility of life in prison.
The SBU also raided the offices of the Legal Defense Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was established specifically to help the clergy and people of the Orthodox Church facing persecution from state authorities during this time of war.
Lawyer Archpriest Nikita Chekman emphasized that according to Ukrainian legislation, there exists a special procedure for searching a lawyer’s official workspace, which the SBU agents did not follow.
According to him, such actions show that the state authorities “decided to commit open political persecution against anyone they don’t like, who defends the rights of the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”
“We must be spiritually prepared for this and not give up, defending the truth of God,” Fr. Nikita emphasized.
He also explained that the SBU officers could provide no court decision giving them the right to raid the offices, but they forcibly opened the doors and broke the locks to raid the offices anyways.
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