INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukraine's SBU security service said Wednesday it carried out "counter-intelligence" measures in churches and monasteries across the
country in its most recent descent on religious sites of the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church."The measures were carried out ..
within the framework of the Security Service of Ukraine's systematic work to counter the subversive activities of the Russian special
services in our country," the SBU said in a statement.The SBU listed over a dozen religious sites in several Ukrainian regions, including
the western Lviv region, the Kherson region in the south and the Zhytomyr region in the northwest.The measures aim to "prevent the use of
religious communities as a center of the 'Russian world' and to protect the population from provocations and terrorist acts," the SBU
added.With its statement, the SBU released photos of its operatives in khaki uniform inspecting religious sites, sometimes accompanied by
who may be involved in illegal activities to the detriment of the state sovereignty of Ukraine" and "objects prohibited from
circulation."Ukraine had been under Moscow's spiritual leadership since at least the 17th century, but part of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church broke with Moscow in 2019 over Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Donbas.In May, the war caused the
Moscow-backed branch of Ukraine's Orthodox Church to sever ties with Russia, in a historic move against the Russian spiritual
country which have links to Russia.
