SSU Comes With Search To Pochaiv Lavra

The reason was announced.

The Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches in the premises of Pochaiv Lavra (Ternopil region). Representatives of law enforcement agencies visited the territory of the religious site in the morning on Thursday, November 30.

This was reported to OBOZ.UA by its own sources. According to them, the preliminary reason for the visit is spreading Russian ideology by the Lavra representatives. The SSU press service later confirmed the searches and said that they took place within the framework of criminal proceedings on involvement of the Pochaiv Lavra management in inciting ethnic discord and hatred.

The monastery's website had earlier published a post insulting the national honour and dignity of Jews and inciting religious discord against representatives of all churches except the UOC.

In addition, in this message, clerics of the UOC-MP questioned the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state separate from Russia.

The expert examination confirmed the presence of statements inciting interethnic discord and hatred in the text.

The investigation under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of equal rights of citizens on the basis of their race, nationality, religion, religious beliefs, disability and other characteristics) is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the offence.

All actions are taking place within the framework of the current legislation, the SSU stressed. The agency "adheres to the principle of impartiality towards the activities of any religious confession and respects the right of every citizen to freedom of outlook and religion, as defined by the Constitution of Ukraine".

We would like to add that the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra monastery belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.