Completely forgot a god

The Khaker group Fancy Bear, associated with Russian GRU, made cyber attacks on electronic mailboxes of clergy from the nearest encirclement of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. This is reported by AP with reference to the data of SecureWorks, dealing with cybersecurity issues.

The 78-year-old Bartholomew himself, as officials of the Patriarchate explained to the agency, does not use e-mail. Among the clergymen whose drawers tried to hack hackers, Metropolitans Bartholomew (Samaras), Emmanuel (Adamakis) and Elpidifor (Lambriniadis). All three, notes AP, are involved in resolving the issue of creating a separate local church in Ukraine. Now the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church are not recognized as the Ecumenical Patriarch, and therefore they have no canonical status. Only the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate is legitimate from the point of view of Constantinople - a division of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In June 2016, the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada appealed to Patriarch Bartholomew with a request to publish Tomos (Decree) on autocephaly of the Local Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In April of this year , President Petro Poroshenko, President of the country, stated the desire to achieve such a tomos. On July 27, the Interfax-Ukraine reported , the head of state adopted a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Kiev, and held telephone conversations with Bartholomew himself last Friday, August 24.

SecureWorks data indicate that attacks by e-mail of the clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate took place back in 2015-2016, that is, before the Verkhovna Rada to Bartholomew’s appeal. In 2016, the All-Orthodox Council was held, regarding the convening of which between Moscow and Constantinople there were friction .

From other sources, reports AP, it turned out that the hackers continued the attacks in the future. So, on October 16, 2017, after the appointment of Nicos Yorgos, Papachrista, the new press secretary of the patriarch, about 10 hierarchs from the official’s post office were sent a welcoming letter that installed a spy program on computers of addresses.

In conversations with the agency, officials of the Patriarchate expressed concern that the letter was written in full accordance with the rules adopted by the clergy, and was sent immediately after the decision on the appointment of papaharist. One of the interlocutors AP concluded that someone from the encirclement of Bartholomew was involved in the attack.

As noted, this is not the first attack by Fancy Bear on religious organizations. So, in 2015, Protoprespresvier John Gillons, the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, said the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America.

It is also known about the attacks of Fancy Bear on the spiritual department of the Muslims of Ukraine "Ummma", the nount of the Pope in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Greekatolic Church. Another goal of the hackers was Joseph Zisels, Chairman of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities (VAADA) of Ukraine.

In Russia, three attacks were committed on the quaker preachers who worked in Moscow and the environs.