Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) conducted a "counterintelligence" operation at Kyiv's Pechersk Lavra and other locations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to counter alleged "subversive activities of the Russian special services in Ukraine," the SBU said in a Telegram post.
According to the SBU, the raids were carried out to search for sabotage groups, foreign citizens, or illegal weapons, as well as to prevent the use of facilities as "centers of the Russian world."
The SBU also conducted raids at the Korets Monastery in Rivne Oblast as well as other UOC facilities in the region.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was formerly under the Moscow Patriarchate until the church cut ties with Moscow in May in response to Russia's full-scale invasion.
Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, has been vocal in his support for Russia's war against Ukraine. During a sermon in September, he said that sacrificing life in the war against Ukraine ‘washes away sins.’
