A Ukrainian lawmaker did not rule out a link between the provocateurs behind the attacks on Ukrainian Orthodox Church churches and Russian intelligence agencies

In an interview with journalist Natalya Vlaschenko, Ukrainian People’s Deputy Oleksandr Kachura stated that individuals involved in the seizures and attacks on churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church may be linked to the activities of Russian intelligence agencies. The lawmaker expressed confidence that many of these activists may be formally registered with the relevant departments of the FSB.

According to , Alexander Kachura noted that it is suspicious that the aggressive activists currently opposing the UOC may have previously been linked to pro-Russian political forces. The lawmaker emphasized that these individuals are acting on clear instructions, storming places of worship.

“Today, they are storming churches that they were told to seize as part of their mission,” the lawmaker noted. He also added that the consequences of such acts of violence play into the hands of Russian propaganda, which uses footage of the clashes as a pretext to justify military aggression against Ukraine, under the guise of supposedly “defending Orthodoxy.”

As a reminder, earlier, Ukrainian MP Georgiy Mazurashu also drew attention to the fact that attempts are being made to divide Ukrainian society along, among other lines, religious lines. The MP noted that most of the accusations against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are baseless, since believers of the UOC are often more patriotic than the rest of society.