Priests who campaigned for Russia detained in Odesa

The Security Service of Ukraine has detained two men in Odesa who are suspected of spreading hostile propaganda, justifying Russia's war in Ukraine and praising Russians.

According to the SBU press service, the detainees include a 58-year-old priest of the Odesa Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate. During conversations with parishioners, he glorified the occupiers and insulted the religious beliefs of believers of other faiths.

The priest maintained ties with former MP from the Party of Regions Igor Markov, who is already suspected by the SBU of treason and is currently hiding in Russia. In addition, he was in contact with collaborator Valeriy Kaurov, who fled to Russia in 2014 and announced the creation of the Kremlin's Odesa People's Republic-Novorossiya project.

At the request of Valeriy Kaurov, the cleric and his 23-year-old daughter took pictures with blank sheets of paper against the backdrop of famous locations in Odesa, and then sent the pictures to Russia. Russian propagandists then drew calls for the occupation of the regional center on the blank sheets, which were allegedly made by local residents.

Later, the Kremlin propagandists distributed the edited fakes on Russian television and telegram channels under the guise of publications of the pro-Russian underground. Another detainee in the port city is a 44-year-old archpriest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), who in his sermons justified Russian shelling of Ukraine's civilian infrastructure.

Forensic linguistic examinations initiated by the SBU confirmed the facts of the detainees ' information and subversive activities in favor of the aggressor country. SBU investigators served both clerics with suspicion notices of justifying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine and violating the equality of citizens based on their religious beliefs. The offenders face up to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Кирило Бойко