Religious scholar recounts how he complained to the Security Service of Ukraine about the sale of “pro-Russian” literature in UOC churches

Chernivtsi religious scholar and provocateur Oleksandr Brodetsky recounted how he complained to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) about the sale of “pro-Russian” literature in churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chernivtsi. Brodecki claims that the SBU is slow to respond to the “facts” he has established because, according to him, the Chernivtsi diocese of the UOC is deceiving the special services. He spoke about this in an interview with RISU.

“And then, about a month later, when the churches of the ”UOC» became more cautious and some removed this literature from their display cases (although in other churches it still remained — with price tags, as, for example, in the women’s monastery on Karmelyuka Street), I received a call from the SBU asking for a meeting. The meeting took place, and I said what I had already said publicly on my page: about the sale of books with prayers to chauvinistic Russian figures, for the ‘Russian homeland’, ‘warriors’, etc. in churches,» — Brodetsky said.

The religious scholar added that, in his opinion, the SBU did not respond to the situation appropriately, as they are not particularly interested in the “sacralization of historical figures.” In addition, the Chernivtsi Diocese of the UOC often deceives the special services, claiming that no “pro-Russian” literature has ever been sold in churches.

«It is difficult for me to judge what further actions the Service’s employees took. However, during the conversation, something like this was said: if we are talking about the sacralization of historical figures, even if they are imperial symbols and leaders, this does not entail any sanctions. This is what an SBU employee said. […] In the vestibule (a small space between the main hall of the church and the outer doors), I saw a pile of newspapers — old ones, but with the imperial ideology intact. I have already talked about their content here before. They were lying on a table covered with a white oilcloth tablecloth. While I was leafing through these newspapers and taking pictures of them, the temple staff noticed me, but they didn’t dare to come up and say anything. They had probably already seen my posts about the prayer books in the cathedral shop windows. And they understood that I knew how and what to answer them. So I took a photo and left. And then I thought: why did I only take photos, I should have taken a video! And after walking 200 meters away from the church, I decided to go back and take a video of the table with the newspapers. I returned and immediately turned on the video camera — even before entering the vestibule. And what do you think? The newspapers had already been removed from the table! They came to their senses! My phone recorded the empty table on video. But the joke is elsewhere. During the aforementioned conversation with SBU employees, which the service initiated shortly after my report about the newspapers, the employees told me: “You know, in the Mykolaiv church they claim that there has never been a table in the vestibule!” — he added.

Earlier, the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church warned believers in Bukovina that a provocative religious scholar was operating in the region, deliberately causing scandals in UOC churches. This refers to local religious scholar and OCU lobbyist Alexander Brodetsky, who conducts systematic propaganda against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the media, while staging fake “shows” with Russian literature that he allegedly finds in UOC churches.