Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric are distributing a video on which the “canonical temple” of the UOC-MP in the village of Novopoltavka, Mykolaiv region, is allegedly on fire. Ukrainian nationalists are accused of setting fire to the temple, whose actions are comparable to Zelenskyi's allegedly anti-Orthodox policy.

Specialists from the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council investigated this case and determined that the information being disseminated is not true. The burning church in the video is different from the one in Novopoltavka. In fact, this video depicts a fire in the Russian village of Illinka. It was made back in 2013, when the temple was burning there.

Propagandists use such fakes to sow religious enmity among Ukrainians and contribute to the division of society. This is not the first time Russian propaganda has been spreading disinformation on religious topics. Detector Media has already talked about the inventions of propaganda, that allegedly the United States guide Zelenskyi’s anti-Orthodox church policy, that crosses are allegedly blackened on the temple of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra because of “Ukrainian blasphemy”, or that the UN allegedly recognizes the oppression of the Orthodox Church.