Ukrainian security services search monasteries and churches in three Ukrainian regions

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported that it had conducted “counterintelligence activities” in monasteries and churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Zakarpattia regions.

A message published by the SBU on social media mentions five monasteries and three churches, where officers of the department along with police are conducting searches.

“Taking into account the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, these activities are being carried out to prevent the use of religious communities as cells of the ‘Russian world’ and to protect the population from provocations and terrorist acts, among other things.” the SBU said.

Earlier in November, the SBU conducted searches on the territory of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Representatives of the SBU also said then that they opposed, “the use of the lavra as a cell of the ‘Russian world’.”

• On 1 December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine planned to ban religious organizations affiliated with Russia.

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