New SBU attack on the Church: the abbot of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was accused of preparing “unrest”
On the eve of the non-canonical so-called in Kyiv. “unification council” to create a church structure controlled by Phanar and the Ukrainian authorities, the SBU increased pressure on the highest hierarchs of the canonical UOC, which refuses to take part in this, according to the Church’s definition, “illegal gathering,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
This time, the abbot of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel, again fell under the “distribution” of Poroshenko’s special services.
As stated by Deputy Chairman of the SBU Viktor Kononenko, Metropolitan Pavel was allegedly involved in organizing “riots and provocations” on the eve of the schismatics’ event.
“The SBU documented intentions to organize provocations in Kyiv on the eve of the Unification Council on the creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” Kononenko said.
According to the deputy head of the SBU, “in November of this year, a resident of the capital, who had repeatedly taken part in actions of various political forces, was approached by a man named Yuri, who introduced himself as an Anti-Maidan activist living in Moscow, and proposed organizing a protest rally in Kyiv. After negotiations in Moscow, Yuri said that it was necessary to hold a protest action against the receipt of the Tomos and the creation of a local Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and gave $5000 in cash. Yuri’s instructions included purchasing a new phone and a communication card to communicate with him, as well as establishing contacts with one of clergy of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, who was supposed to coordinate activities from the inside. At the same time, to interact, he had to give the password: “We are from Alexander Ivanovich.”
Kononenko claims that upon returning to Ukraine, the unnamed man allegedly contacted the Security Service and told about the offer he had received. Later, under the control of the SBU, the organizer of the upcoming action contacted Yuri.
“Later it was established that the indicated person is the abbot of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel,” assures the deputy chairman of the SBU.
According to him, Yuri from Moscow allegedly sent slogans for posters that were to be used during the protests. “On December 8, in accordance with the instructions provided, a meeting was held with Metropolitan Pavel, who, after announcing the password, invited the organizer of the actions to his office and had a corresponding conversation with him,” Kononenko added.
At the same time, he noted that after the searches conducted by the SBU, Metropolitan Pavel behaved quite carefully. “On December 10, the customer announced the dates for the actions – December 13 and December 14 at 12 o’clock on the territory of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra during a religious service,” Kononenko added.
According to him, after this information, the Security Service decided to stop conducting the operational game and disclose the information to the public.
When asked by journalists whether the SBU will detain the governor of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Kononenko noted that there is no reason for this now, but in the near future the Security Service will summon Metropolitan Pavel for questioning.
In turn, the speaker of the canonical UOC, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, said in an interview with Ukrainian TV that tomorrow, December 12, parishioners of the Church are going to stage a protest against “autokephvlia” in the form of “prayer standing.”
“We, as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, do not officially organize any actions either on Saturday or on other days. I know of only one initiative of our laity - tomorrow at 10 o’clock they want to gather for prayer and express some disagreement with government interference in the affairs of the church,” said Nikolai Danilevich.
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