Chief of Foreign Intelligence: Kremlin is alarmed by establishment of OCU

Valery Kondratiuk. Photo: ua.news

On August 1, 2020, the Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Valery Kondratiuk, spoke about the threats to Ukraine, which, in his opinion, arise on religious grounds from Russia and, in particular, to the formation of the OCU, Zerkalo Nedeli reports.

According to the General, Russia is using the ROC as a "lever of pressure on the religious sphere" of Ukraine: "One of the forms of Kremlin pressure on our state is to promote the idea of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian special services, having leverage on the religious sphere, use the ROC at the same time both as a "tough" force (inspiration of protest actions that can easily turn into demonstrative clashes with law enforcement officers or provocateurs) and a "soft" force (influence on the minds of believers)" ...

At the same time, as the Head of Foreign Intelligence believes, "in this direction, Russia uses all available technologies to oppose the process of the formation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, manipulating the feelings of Ukrainian believers and trying in every possible way to preserve its influence on them."

He says that "paramilitary formations" are being set up among believers, which, in his opinion, "duplicate the functions of the police": "Another special project of the Kremlin is attempts to create and legalize paramilitary formations in the regions of Ukraine within the framework of religious communities, vesting them with law enforcement functions. It is about the revitalization of the activities of pro-Russian Cossack organizations, which are trying at the local level to duplicate the functions of the police to protect public order. Such cases were recorded, in particular, in the Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhia regions."

As reported by the UOJ, earlier Irina Friz, MP from the European Solidarity faction, expressed fears that the Russian Federation would occupy the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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