DISINFO: In Ukraine churches belonging to Moscow Patriarchate have been seized and priests beaten up

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: In Ukraine churches belonging to Moscow Patriarchate have been seized and priests beaten up

SUMMARY

Following the 15th December 2018 “schism” that established a Unified Orthodox Church of Ukraine, churches in Ukraine belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate have been seized and priests beaten up.

RESPONSE

No evidence given. Ukrainian media published a video about a service held in that church on the 17 December. Vinnytsia police chief Serhiy Syniavskyi informed that they “sent a special patrol to the church to check things out. Everything was normal as usual". And Stop Fake contacted the caretakers of the Vinnytsia church and were told everything was normal and no one had taken control of the church. "Over the telephone we could hear singing from the mass that was taking place there at the time", mentions Stop Fake.

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about autocephaly and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. See here for analogous disinformation cases. For other disinformation narratives on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church see here and here.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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