A screenshot of a message on the Facebook page of the OCU priest Roman Hryshchuk has been circulated online, in which he allegedly cursed those who laugh at President Zelenskyi's Victory Plan.

“Such behavior means only one thing: the person has nothing human left, and Satan has already taken over his mind. Therefore, I curse everyone who lost their minds today and insulted the President of Ukraine”, the post says.

However, this is a fake photo. The fakers edited Roman Hryshchuk’s message, replacing the original text with “curses”. The real post was about what to do if a priest curses.

In fact, the caption to the post and the video itself were about what to do if a priest curses. Hryshchuk indicated that a subscriber approached him with this question, since, according to her, a local priest cursed some of the parishioners. He did not say the words that the propagandists cited, moreover, Hryshchuk did not make statements about Zelenskyi or the Victory Plan. Fake news sites replaced the original text of the message with “curses”.

Pro-Russian sources are distributing a video in which a priest of the Greek Catholic Cathedral in Ivano-Frankivsk allegedly says during a liturgy that Donald Trump is “the Antichrist, the devil” and “with his arrival the end of the world will come”. Therefore, on the eve of the presidential elections, the priest allegedly called on believers to pray for the “prudence of the American people”.

However, the video distributed by Russian propagandists is a deepfake. This was reported on the official media resource of the Ivano-Frankivsk Archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. For the deepfake, the fakers used the image and voice of Father Stepan Balahura, the syncellus for clergy and priestly families of the Ivano-Frankivsk Archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. 

The basis for the deepfake was a broadcast of the liturgy from the Archcathedral on November 5, 2024, posted on the YouTube platform in open access. During the service, the priest did not talk about Trump and certainly did not call him the “antichrist” and “devil”.

This disinformation is an attempt by propagandists to influence Ukrainians' perception of Donald Trump, who has already been re-elected as US President. We previously analyzed the Russian fake that Ukrainian Greek Catholics were exempted from mobilization.

The pro-Russian segment of the Internet is spreading information that the head doctor of a medical institution in Cherkasy refused to provide medical assistance to parishioners of the UOC MP. This allegedly happened after a scuffle between representatives of the OCU and believers of the UOC MP near the Cherkasy St. Michael's Cathedral due to the fact that some parishioners were unhappy with the decision of chaplain Volodymyr Pedko to transfer the church to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The propagandists write that as a result of the clash, about 20 people with serious injuries sought hospital treatment, but the head doctor Oleksandr Fedoruk forbade documenting the injuries of some of the victims, providing them with first aid, and hospitalizing them. So this is allegedly “evidence of religious intolerance” towards Orthodox believers in Ukraine.

In fact, this information is false, StopFake journalists report.

The Third Cherkasy City Hospital of Emergency Medical Care published a refutation of this news on its Facebook page: “On October 17, 2024, 10 people who were injured during these events turned to the Third Cherkasy City Hospital of Emergency Medical Care. Six were provided with outpatient care, two were hospitalized in the traumatology department, two in the neurosurgery department. All who sought help received it in full. The information about the refusal to provide assistance is false and discredits our establishment”.

Soon after the incident occurred, law enforcement agencies began investigating it: the regional national police opened a criminal case under Part 4 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - hooliganism. The maximum punishment that can be threatened under the sanction of the article is imprisonment for a term of two to five years.

The religious community of Cherkasy voted and made a decision to transfer the church to the subordination of the OCU back in June 2024, and on October 17, the process was finalized. The corresponding order was issued and signed by the Cherkasy Regional Military Administration. As a result, the UOC community is no longer registered at this address and has also lost its property rights. “The Russian Orthodox Church has occupied the territory of St. Michael's Cathedral and hypocritically calls itself the Ukrainian Church, so today we did it. We must liberate all of Ukraine from the Russian occupation and the spiritual Russian occupation”, said military chaplain Father Nazarii in a commentary to Cherkasy Suspilne (Public) about the transfer of the church to the subordination of the OCU.

This fake is intended to feed the Russian narrative that Ukraine is allegedly persecuting people on religious grounds. We previously recorded disinformation that an OCU priest refused to perform the funeral service for Ukrainian defenders baptized in the UOC MP.

Propagandists are distributing videos and photos on anonymous Telegram channels and other media, allegedly taken in the Holy Trinity Church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in Troieshchyna in Kyiv. In the video, an unknown person holds a piece of paper with the so-called prayer against mobilization, which, according to the propagandists, costs 10 hryvnia. However, this is fake.

This was found out by Ukrinform journalists. According to them, the postcard was forged using a graphics editor, and the ornament depicted on it was taken from Russian stock resources, where it is called a Russian pattern. The propagandists replaced the UOC symbol with domes with the OCU cross, printed out the leaflet and presented it as a real “prayer” that is allegedly sold in Ukraine for money. Also, in the text of the fake prayer, the letters “z” are replaced with the Latin z, which is a symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Latin z is never used in the Old Church Slavonic spelling used in the UOC. This is further evidence that the postcard is a gross forgery. The video was filmed in such a way that it is impossible to accurately identify the location: apart from the hand holding the leaflet and the general church altar, which can be found in any Orthodox church, no other details are visible.

The fake was spread by an Instagram profile that is also used to spread other disinformation. At the time of its spread, the account had an avatar with an image of a church, but its name was deliberately drawn out. It turned out that this account had previously spread another fake about a supposed birthday celebration of Russian dictator Volodymyr Putin in a Las Vegas nightclub.

Russian propaganda is trying to show that the OCU allegedly uses religious doctrines for financial enrichment, thereby trying to sow distrust of this confession among Ukrainians and the international community. By creating such fakes, Russian propagandists are also trying to demoralize Ukrainian society, undermining trust in religious and national institutions, in particular, in war conditions, in order to disrupt the mobilization process. The purpose of spreading such fakes abroad is to undermine Ukraine's reputation in the international arena and to demonstrate it as a country where chaos and manipulation reign even in the religious sphere.

The Russian Orthodox Church actively supports Russia's policy, justifies the war against Ukraine and acts as a tool for legitimizing the criminal actions of the occupiers. Statements by church leaders, in particular, comparing the war to “treatment” or “the work of a surgeon”, whitewash aggression and violence. This is what experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council write.

By comparing war to a healing process, the Russian Orthodox Church seeks to shape the public opinion that war is a “necessary” and “good” act. Patriarch Kirill’s statements that death in war washes away sins, mobilizes society and demoralizes opponents of war, using religious motives. The Russian Orthodox Church’s cooperation with the Russian government provides propaganda cover for war crimes and promotes a narrative about the correctness of the “chosen path”.

Russian propagandists claim that Kyiv is allegedly going to demolish dozens of churches belonging to the UOC MP. Citing an investigation by Ukrainian journalists, the Russian propaganda writes that “journalists are inspecting the capital's UOC churches and pressuring the Kyiv City State Administration to demolish those they consider illegally built”.

However, propagandists manipulate information, StopFake reports. Journalists from Sledstvie.Info investigated the situation with illegally built UOC-MP churches in Kyiv. Thus, back in May 2023, they drew attention to the fact that the city authorities were not reacting in any way to three illegal buildings used by the UOC-MP. All the buildings listed in the investigation were built in circumvention of the law, and they also do not represent any historical value.

In response to a request from journalists, the Kyiv City State Administration noted that employees of the Department of Land Resources of the administration surveyed the indicated areas, drew up survey reports, and sent them to local prosecutor's offices and to the relevant executive body of the Kyiv City State Administration so that they could respond within the limits of their authority.

In fact, it is Russia that is massively destroying UOC MP churches in Ukraine. According to data for 2023, during the full-scale war, Russia completely destroyed about 80 UOC MP churches and damaged about 200 more.

Previously, we wrote about the messages that Russia is promoting in response to the ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Russian propagandists are spreading information that the SBU found several ruble bills during a search of the Sviato-Vvedenskyi Monastery in Kyiv and on this basis reported suspicion to Archimandrite Volodymyr (UOC MP). Therefore, he allegedly faces five years in prison with confiscation of property.

However, this information is not true, writes StopFake. The official statement from the SBU states that it did indeed notify one of the clerics of the UOC MP of the suspicion. At the same time, the reason for this was not ‘a few ruble bills’, but the cleric's justification of Russia's war against Ukraine and his dissemination of fakes about the socio-political situation in Ukraine.

The cleric is accused under Part 2 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It defines punishment for acquittal, recognition as lawful, denial of armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine due to the distribution of relevant materials. Any punishment for possession of Russian rubles under this article is not provided, as it is not provided for by any other articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Russians continue to create fakes on religious topics in response to the law adopted in Ukraine banning religious organizations with a governing center in Russia. We previously wrote about the messages promoted by Russia, reacting to the ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Russian sources are spreading information that in the city of Chernivtsi there was a quarrel between an OCU clergyman and a husband in a camouflage T-shirt. This allegedly happened due to the fault of the priest, who refused to perform the funeral service for two dead Ukrainian soldiers because they were baptized in the UOC (MP). As “proof”, Russian propagandists add a corresponding video in which the quarrel takes place, and people around shout “Shame! Disgrace!”

In fact, this information is not true. As Ukrinform journalists report, everything happened exactly the opposite. This quarrel occurred because of a priest of the UOC (MP), who refused to perform the funeral service for two Ukrainian soldiers because he did not want to conduct the service together with the chaplain of the OCU. The video was filmed on August 10, 2023 in the village of Irkliiv, Zolotoniskyi district, Cherkasy region. That is, Russian propaganda presented the inhumane actions of a priest of the Moscow Patriarchate Church, which led to a scandal in the community of the Cherkasy region, as the actions of a clergyman of the OCU.

Moreover, an identical situation occurred in the village of Vyzhenka in Bukovyna in March 2024. Then, a priest of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate did not allow the coffin with the body of the deceased defender to be brought into the church. This was reported by MP Iryna Nykorak.

In this way, propagandists are reacting to the recently adopted bill #8371 on the ban in Ukraine of the activities of religious organizations with their headquarters in Russia. The Russians want to artificially split Ukrainian society on religious grounds.

Read on Censor.NET: How conspiracy theorists explain events in Ukraine and the world: the theory of ‘church persecution in Ukraine’

Russian Telegram channels have spread the news that a Ukrainian refugee shot at a church icon in Zurich. The publications are accompanied by a screenshot from the woman's Instagram profile, where she shared a photo in yellow and blue colors with the hashtag #standwithukraine.

But the person pictured is Sania Ameti, a Swiss politician of Bosnian origin with no ties to Ukraine. She is a member of parliament for the Green Liberals and heads the political movement Operation Libero.

Amethi shared a photo on her Instagram in which she was shooting at an image with Christian iconographic motifs online. Following a flurry of outrage, Sania Amethi deleted the post and apologized.

As a result, the Green Liberals leadership determined that the politician's actions did not cause a reputational blow to the entire organization, and will continue to ask Ameta to leave the party.

Following the recently adopted bill No. 8371 on the ban on the activities of religious organizations with a governing center in Russia, propagandists have spread information that a church in Lutsk was seized from the UOC and has already been turned into a laundry. As evidence, the authors of the fake add a corresponding photograph.

In fact, this information is not true. Using Google's reverse image search function, it was possible to find out that the photo of the church distributed by propagandists appeared online back in November 2023. And it was taken not in Lutsk, but in the Ternopil region. At that time, the first social laundry was opened in Terebovlia with the support of the Caritas-Ternopil charity foundation. The local city council reported that they opened it in the premises of the parish, which became the winner of a mini-grant within the framework of the project “Development of social service to unite communities to support IDPs and vulnerable groups at the parish level”, operating with the support of CNEWA Canada and Renovabis.

“Today, social laundry is a very relevant service. Because people from dangerous regions of the country come to our community with almost nothing, only some personal belongings. And often such people do not have the opportunity to buy a washing machine for themselves”, said Oleh Prodan, the mayor of Terebovlia.

With this fake, propagandists are trying to discredit the law banning the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and show that Ukrainians are sinners and atheists. Russians call their church “true” and threaten that “sinners” will be held accountable for their actions in another world.

Read on Censor.NET: How conspiracy theorists explain events in Ukraine and the world: The theory of “church persecution in Ukraine”

After the adoption of bill No. 8371 in August 2024 on the ban on the activities of religious organizations whose leadership center is located in the aggressor country, Russian propagandists began to spread more disinformation about the religious situation in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Crisis Media Center has highlighted recent key messages on this topic.

“Data on Ukrainians’ support for the ban on the UOC (MP) is fake”

In fact, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in April 2024, 83% of Ukrainians believed that the state should interfere in the activities of the UOC to some extent. In particular, according to 63% of respondents, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be completely banned in Ukraine. That is, Ukrainians, on the contrary, express significant support for the relevant measures.

“Pope Francis has sharply condemned the Church's law”

The Pope did comment on the new Ukrainian law on the activities of religious organizations linked to Russia. However, his words were different from those cited by propagandists. Pope Francis stated that “not a single Christian church should be abolished in Ukraine”. He expressed concern about religious freedom, but did not “harshly condemn” the law, as Russian sources claim.

It should be noted that the Vatican seeks to maintain dialogue with all parties, including Moscow. This often leads to cautious formulations that are distorted by propagandists.

“There is a persecution of religion in Ukraine”

In reality, Ukraine is taking action against religious organizations associated with the aggressor country, not against religion in general. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is historically linked to the Russian Orthodox Church and has proven ties to Russia. A study by the State Service for Ethnopolicy and Freedom of Conscience found that the UOC remains an organization centered in Russia. Therefore, the ban on religious organizations with a leadership center in the aggressor country is aimed at preventing foreign interference through these institutions, not at “persecuting believers”.

“All who are for are enemies, all who are against are friends”

Boxer Oleksandr Usyk, once “praised” by Russian propagandists as a “bearer of the Orthodox faith”, has supported Ukraine's policy of countering Russian influence. The propagandists' messages are now aimed at discrediting Usyk as a person who allegedly changes his beliefs and actions depending on circumstances and influence, thereby undermining his authority among the audience.

Read also: After nine months, the parties will only take up positions for battle. How the law banning religious organizations linked to Russia will work – MediaSapiens – Detector Media.

Propagandists are actively spreading manipulative statements about the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) and bill No. 8371, which aims to ban it. They once again claim that the Verkhovna Rada is trying to completely limit the religious freedom of Ukrainians in this way. They say that foreign human rights activists and politicians, in particular the team of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, are paying attention to this. And the politicians defending the bill don’t know what they’re talking about. In this case, propagandists refer to the situation when People's Deputy and ex-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko called Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson Michael Jackson.

Propagandists also appeal to the fact that the UOC-MP was forced to hire the law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP and lobbyist William Bjork-White to protect its interests in Washington, but they are silent about the ideological nuances of this decision, which Ukrainian investigators have revealed. Amsterdam & Partners is actively involved in political lobbying and often takes on controversial cases. In addition to the UOC-MP, the company officially represents the interests of sanctioned businessman Vadym Novynskyi. The company says Ukraine illegally confiscated Novynskyi's assets and is groundlessly persecuting him for his religious beliefs. It was the actions of this company that could contribute to further rhetoric from conservative circles in the United States regarding the application of the “Mahnitskyi’s Law” against the initiators of the ban on the UOC-MP. This law provides for personal sanctions against individuals who violate human rights, but its application is possible only by decision of the US administration.

In fact, the above-mentioned bill is aimed at preventing the use of religious organizations in the interests of the aggressor country and protecting national security, and not at restricting religious freedom. The purpose of spreading such messages is to destabilize the internal situation in Ukraine, split society along religious lines and undermine trust in the government. Propagandists seek to discredit the Ukrainian authorities, present it as undemocratic and repressive, and also create a negative image of Ukraine in the international arena, weakening support from Western countries. This is all aimed at undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine.

Pro-Russian telegram channels publish information that Metropolitan Ionafan of Tulchyn and Bratslav (UOC-MP) became a victim of repression from Kyiv because of his loyalty and unwillingness to make compromises bordering on treason. In spreading this message, propagandists refer to the statement of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Kyryl (Volodymyr Hundiaiev).

In fact, this information is fake, according to the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. There is no religious persecution or harassment based on religion in Ukraine.

Metropolitan Ionafan (Anatolii Yeletskykh) was sentenced to 5 years in prison for specific crimes not related to matters of faith. In October 2022, the SBU, during searches of the Tulchin diocese of the UOC-MP, discovered a number of propaganda postcards:

- with the image of the flag of the Russian Federation;

- with Putin’s decree on the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation;

- with images of a map of Ukraine, where Crimea is designated as the territory of the Russian Federation;

- letters (photocopies) of the Moscow Patriarch dated October 6, 2022 with a demand to pray for the President of the Russian Federation.

By spreading this fake news, Russian propaganda seeks to whitewash the agents of the Russian special services, who cynically conduct anti-state activities in Ukraine under the guise of church status. Previously, we analyzed the message of Russian propaganda that the arrest of the rector of the Sviatohirsk Lavra is supposedly “religious persecution”.

Russian resources are disseminating information that the rector of the Sviatohirska Lavra of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate, Arsenii, was arrested due to his religious beliefs.

In fact, this information is fake, as reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. The church rector Arsenii (Ihor Yakovenko) was taken into custody after he was accused of disclosing information about the deployment and movement of Ukrainian military personnel: “In September 2023, the rector of the Sviatohirska Holy Dormition Lavra of the UOC-MP disseminated information of a military nature. In particular, during his sermon, he told the believers about the location of checkpoints, as well as units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine and the Defense Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the Sviatohirsk community”, wrote the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office.

The suspicion raised does not concern his “religious beliefs”. It is about his possible commission of specific actions, for which criminal liability in the form of eight years of imprisonment is provided, the Center adds.

At the beginning of a full-scale invasion, Patriarch Kyryl of the Russian Orthodox Church blessed Russian troops for a bloody war in Ukraine. The UOC-MP often carries out not only spiritual and cultural activities inherent in religious communities, but also carries out political actions that harm the interests and national security of Ukraine. How Russia blurs reality by resorting to rhetoric about “sinners” can be read here.

Propagandists are distributing on social networks a screenshot of a supposedly real vacancy from the Free Charitable Organization, where they are looking for a choir artist or vocalist who preaches the importance and tolerance of LGBT ideology to parishioners. However, this is a fake photo.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that, judging by the design of the vacancy, the advertisement was posted on the job search site Work.ua. However, they could not find this vacancy on this site. Moreover, the address indicated on the official website of the fund differs from the address in the screenshot. Additionally, the photo was checked using the FotoForensics tool, which showed signs of editing.

Also on the official Facebook page of the Svoboda Charitable Organization it is noted that this screenshot is fake, and the organization is not looking for vocalists. This is another attempt to discredit the organization’s activities by unscrupulous users, as well as to cause skepticism towards the LGBT movement in Ukraine.

In such messages, the authors, on behalf of the “prayer department”, offer to pray for the Ukrainian military who find themselves surrounded. For example, one of the messages talked about two Ukrainian brigades that were allegedly surrounded by 40 thousand Russian soldiers near Avdiivka.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reports that the vast majority of such messages are the work of Russian intelligence services.

This is evidenced by the following:

- sometimes messages are written in Russian, which may already be the first sign of it;

- in the structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine there is no “prayer department” responsible for prayers;

- lack of specifics about the brigades and the time of the location of hostilities;

- the desire to evoke an emotional reaction in the reader in order to obtain maximum coverage;

- in the comments there may be calls for Ukrainians to give up.

Russians can manipulate even such intimate areas as religion, so you should not trust overly emotional messages and calls on this topic.

Users of social networks are disseminating information that allegedly Greek Catholics of Ukraine were exempted from mobilization. They say that proof of this is that the Kyiv Three Hierarchs Theological Seminary received a license from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to conduct higher education in the Theology specialty. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that indeed, by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated January 15, 2024, the Kyiv Three Hierarchs Theological Seminary of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) received a state license and was registered in the Unified State Electronic Database of Education. However, this does not mean that members of the Greek Catholic Church are exempt from the obligation to serve in the army according to constitutional requirements.

Lawyer of the Miller law firm Andrii Novak notes in a commentary to Ukrainska Pravda that, according to the legislation of Ukraine, religious beliefs do not exempt an individual from the obligation to defend the state. The country's constitution guarantees the equality of all citizens before the law and prohibits discrimination on religious grounds. The current version of the laws on mobilization preparation and mobilization does not provide for any exceptions for believers. The obligation to serve in the army is the same for both believers and non-believers.

At the same time, Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine provides for the possibility of replacing military service with alternative (non-military) service if the performance of military duty contradicts the religious beliefs of a citizen. There is a list of religious organizations whose supporters are prohibited not only from using, but even picking up weapons. The Greek Catholic Church is not included in this list. However, this rule applies only to conscript service in peacetime.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to arouse public distrust in government decisions and discredit the mobilization process in the country. Detector Media has already refuted other Russian fakes on mobilization.

Pro-Kremlin resources are disseminating information that the Kyiv City Council is allegedly considering the issue of demolishing churches of the canonical UOC - on the list, according to propagandists, there are more than 70 objects. And in the Vinnytsia region, bulldozers are allegedly working now.

Specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security drew attention to this news and denied it. They found that the website of the capital city council does not contain any news, statements or petitions on the destruction of religious buildings. A search at the request of the UOC reveals news there dated April 20, 2023 with a request from the Kyiv City Council to the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Security and Defense Council to take urgent measures to terminate lease agreements or use agreements with the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate for state-owned religious buildings. And there is not a word here about the destruction of temples.

Nothing like this can be found on the official website of the Vinnytsia City Council. The newest news marked “UOC” dates back to April 28, 2023, which refers to an appeal to people’s deputies with a request to speed up the consideration of bills banning the activities of the Moscow Church in Ukraine.

The purpose of this disinformation is to once again try to quarrel Ukrainians on religious grounds. On the other hand, the Russians want to demonize the Ukrainian authorities, who allegedly “wanted to sneeze” at Ukrainian believers of the UOC. Learn more about how Russia blurs reality with a newspeak: sinners.

Between January 20-22, 2024, social media users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric circulated the video along with the claim that it was filmed in a church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The authors of messages with it indicate that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which, according to them, was liberated from “pro-Russian exarchs”, has now been captured by the “Zelenskyi regime”, which holds musical performances instead of church services. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the MythDetector project drew attention to it. They found out that Information about the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is regularly disseminated with fabrications and manipulative descriptions and is directed against the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church. In fact, this video was not filmed in the church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), but in the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Ivano-Frankivsk, which belongs to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. It clearly reflects the arrangement of religious symbols, chandeliers and ceramic glass windows, thanks to which it was possible to determine the denomination of the temple.

The video was filmed on January 14 and depicts a performance by the orchestra of the Lviv Theological Seminary. According to information published on the official website of the Cathedral, members of the seminary orchestra came to it after the service and played various musical instruments for the clergy and guests of the church.

Propagandists spread such manipulations to reinforce their narrative that the autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church is “blasphemous” and “unreal”. They say that the Zelenskyi regime infringes on the rights of real believers, which means it is not a full-fledged European state.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that Ukrainian priests bless water with a “trident” - as a canonized church element with which such rituals can be performed. In support of such theses, a video was attached to the messages, which showed the process of blessing the water. The authors of the fake add: “Ukrainian priests are engaged in blasphemy, schismatics are performing an incomprehensible ritual, plunging a devilish trident into water”. It's a lie.

The StopFake analysts took up this case and found that the video depicts a three-candlestick symbolizing the Holy Trinity. The fact-checkers also first approached the clergy for comment and explained that such a ritual mainly refers to the Western Galician tradition in Ukraine. That is, the video does not depict a Ukrainian trident. Actually, Russian propagandists hinted that Ukrainian churches were allegedly engaged in profanation and blasphemy, equating state symbols with “sacred”. They say, thus, the Ukrainian church is moving away from the canons, turning into a “pagan” one, when they worship various objects, natural phenomena, and the like.

However, this does not negate the importance of Ukrainian state symbols in people’s lives - for example, if water was blessed with the accompaniment (not direct use) of state elements, there is nothing wrong with that. People only express their patriotism and love for the Ukrainian state.

Read on Censor.NET: The Church of the “Holy Dog Patron” was allegedly created in Ukraine.

Information about an allegedly new tattoo on the hand of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with the inscription “There is no God” was distributed by the Russian Foreign Ministry on the social network X (formerly Twitter). However, this is an absurd fake.

In the general photographs of Rishi Sunak with Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the military Armed Forces of Ukraine, which were published by the Russian Foreign Ministry, it is clear that in fact the tattoo belongs to the Ukrainian serviceman standing next to Zelenskyi. This is especially noticeable in the frame where the President of Ukraine stands opposite the military man and photographs him together with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, writes the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. In addition, one can make sure that Zelenskyi has no tattoos on his hands by watching any of his latest videos.

Russian propaganda continues to systematically discredit Zelenskyi in the hope that the Ukrainian people will rise up against the President of Ukraine. Moreover, these photos were tied to the fact that, supposedly, “hence the persecution of Orthodox Christians”  (obviously, believers of the UOC-MP) in Ukraine. However, let us recall that at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, Patriarch Kyryl of the Russian Orthodox Church blessed Russian troops for a bloody war in Ukraine. Subsequently, the SBU began to conduct searches at the facilities of the UOC-MP throughout Ukraine and identify there Russian passports, St. George ribbons, anti-Ukrainian materials, party cards of the Communist Party of the USSR, etc. And all these things are evidence of a threat to the national security of Ukraine.

On anonymous telegram channels they are distributing a photo of the church calendar of the OCU, which supposedly states: January 7, they say, one cannot celebrate Christmas, since then only “Russians and their accomplices” celebrate. And on January 25, the calendar allegedly (at the state level) marks the birthday of Volodymyr Zelenskyi. At the same time, May 25 is the “day of Saint Javelin”. It's fake.

Analysts from the StopFake project investigated the case and found out that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine did not publish such a calendar; it was created by Kremlin minions and then presented as the work of the Ukrainian church. The real church calendar was published on the official website of the OCU - and there is no mention in it of the Ukrainian president or the so-called Saint Javelin. The calendar indicates that on January 25, Orthodox Christians commemorate St. Gregory the Theologian, and on May 25, the Third Finding of the Head of John the Baptist.

Moreover, the false calendar contains numerous errors: the author of “Saint Javelin” is considered to be Christian Borys, and not Chris Shaw, as the fakes wrote; There was also a mistake in writing the surname of the head of Ukraine - they wrote “Zelinsky” instead of “Zelenskyi”. And the word “accomplice” is in most cases used in criminal or judicial contexts. The literary version is “supporter”.

And “Saint Javelin” was never canonized to mark the day in church life. Even during the creation of a mural in Kyiv dedicated to the concept of Our Lady holding a Javelin in her hands, the Ukrainian Council of Churches - an association of Ukrainian religious leaders - opposed its creation. Subsequently, they had to sketch the halo at the request of the local administration.

Telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the Church of the Dog Patron was founded in Ukraine. As proof, the authors add a video in which a man allegedly wearing a priest’s robe and with a headdress in the form of a dog’s head invites parishioners to the Church of the Holy Dog Patron. It's a lie.

Analysts from the VoxCheck project investigated this case and explained that the news about the founding of the church was made up. At the same time, the primary source of the video is the humorous channel in the text. That is, propagandists replicated the satirical video and presented it as a true fact. Moreover, the Ukrainian media did not publish such news. Neither such information was published on social networks or on the website of the dog Patron itself.

Let us remind you that we previously documented a fake that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine canonized the dog Patron.

Read on Censor.NET: The OCU is allegedly praying for Ukraine to join NATO and the EU.

On social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, information is being spread that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has canonized the dog Patron. As evidence, the authors cite a “photo” of the iconostasis in one of the churches, which, according to propagandists, belongs to the OCU - and instead of the royal gate, an icon with the dog Patron was installed. At the same time, the publications add an alleged comment by the primate of the OCU, Epiphanius, who “stated” that such canonization would help attract more believers to the church, including children. However, this is not true.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project analyzed the case and came to the conclusion that there is no information about the creation and placement of the icon with the dog Patron in the church on the official pages of the OCU on the Internet. At the same time, Epiphany did not give any comments about the icon, which is probably just a fiction of Russian propaganda. Experts also checked the photographs using special tools and found that the images were created by artificial intelligence with a 99.9% probability.

The analysts further explained that propaganda publications do not indicate in which church such an icon was supposedly installed. But a reverse search on Google did not produce any results. It is most likely that these photographs were created using AI technology and passed off as photos of the OCU.

Read on Censor.NET: The OCU is praying for Ukraine to join NATO and the EU.

An eight-second video is being circulated on social networks in the Russian segment, allegedly showing a prayer for Ukraine’s accession to NATO and the EU being read in a Ukrainian church. “God, don’t send us to Heaven, but send us to NATO and the EU”, is allegedly written in the text of such a “prayer”. Anonymous telegram channels began to claim that the OCU was engaged in blasphemy and discrediting Orthodox believers. It is not true.

The StopFake analysts studied the case and found out that the video is not real, because there is no information that is located in Ukrainian churches about reading such a “prayer”. Moreover, information is disseminated only in pro-Kremlin media or anonymous telegram channels.

As experts explained, according to church rules, the texts of new prayers are approved by the Holy Synod of the OCU - this is the governing body of the OCU. All their decisions, including the texts of newly approved prayers, are published on the official website of the OCU. However, StopFake analysts did not find among the decisions of the Synod the statement of “prayer for Ukraine’s accession to NATO and the EU”.

They also contacted the press service of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The department told them that this was an obvious fake, and they did not approve such a prayer.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media and social networks claim that Halloween was celebrated in the churches of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which the authors of such posts call “the holiday of evil spirits”. Like, proof of this is a video where one can see a church choir performing a song dedicated to this holiday. It was allegedly filmed in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Lutsk. However, this is a fake.

Analysts of the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the video was not actually shot in Lutsk, but in the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Lviv on October 8, that is, before Halloween. Moreover, it is a temple of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, not the OCU. In addition, in the original video, the choir does not perform a song about the holiday, but the church song “How Beautiful is in Your Temple, Mother of God”, which has nothing to do with Halloween. The “celebration” of Halloween in Ukrainian churches is impossible, as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine publicly opposes this holiday, as explained on its official Facebook page.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to portray Ukrainians as schisms who destroy their faith for the sake of ideology. He said that even the churches in Ukraine were invaded by Western influences, which is why Russia introduced troops to protect “true values”.  Detector Media has repeatedly refuted messages and fakes related to the OCU.

Pro-Russian resources claim that a prayer book for children has appeared in Ukraine, in which they are invited to pray to God, saying the following words: “Protect my father near Donetsk, as you protected my great-grandfather in Galicia”. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of Gvara Media. They contacted one of the places where this prayer book was sold, the Church Store of the Lviv Archdiocese of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, with a question whether such a text existed in the book. In response to a request from the fact-checkers, store employees responded that there was no such text in the prayer book and added that it was published back in 2011, that is, long before the start of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.

Propagandists are trying to demonize Ukrainians in the eyes of ordinary Russian citizens in order to justify Russia's war crimes in Ukraine. We recently published an extensive article about Ukrainian children suffering as a result of Russian aggression.

On October 19, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved in the first reading the “Bill on Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on the Activities of Religious Organizations in Ukraine”. This happened after six months of disputes between state deputies and “curses” of supporters of the UOC-MP in Ukraine. The adopted law may force the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be more willing to compromise with the authorities on a number of issues - from leaving the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra to more constructive cooperation of the church leadership.

The Moscow Patriarchate is one of the largest centers of Russian influence on the territory of Ukraine. The Center for Countering Disinformation reported that Russian propaganda negatively perceived the bill banning religious organizations associated with Russia, and Russian ex-President Dmytro Medvediev described such a policy of the Ukrainian government as “heavily involved in cocaine and Satanism”.

Ukraine, having adopted the corresponding bill in the first reading, neutralizes another level of influence on the Ukrainian population through religion. Previously, we wrote about whom adherents of the Moscow Patriarchate call “sinners”.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are distributing a screenshot of an alleged petition from the website of the official Internet representation of the President of Ukraine calling for “recognition of Israel’s war crimes against the people of Palestine”. The author of the petition is Ahmed Tamim, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, Supreme Mufti of Ukraine. It is not true.

As the fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation note, in fact, there is no such petition either on the website of the President of Ukraine or on the official pages of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Ukraine, create a religious conflict on the territory of our state and worsen relations with Israel. Previously, we refuted the fake news that a Temple bar was opened for Satanists in Kyiv.

Every year, thousands of Jewish Hasidic pilgrims come to the city of Uman, Cherkasy region, to celebrate the Jewish new year Rosh Hashanah at the grave of Rabbi Nachman, the founder of Bratslav Hasidism, who died in 1810. Ukraine was expecting 50,000 Israeli believers this year, despite the Israeli Prime Minister urging them to postpone the trip. The reason for this clause was Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian propagandists use the Hasidic pilgrimage theme to portray Ukrainians as anti-Semitic, intimidate pilgrims, and worsen relations between Ukraine and Israel.

Last year, Russian propaganda stated that it could not ensure the safe stay of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims in Uman. That same year, Russian propagandists came up with a new message: Ukraine would deliberately attack pilgrims in Uman in order to obtain military assistance from Israel, including air defense systems. On April 28, 2023, Russia fired rockets at a 9-story building in the city of Uman, killing 23 people. Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to make a scapegoat out of Ukraine, absolving themselves of responsibility for the crimes of the Russians. Ukraine does not resort to terrorist methods to obtain weapons from Western partners, but acts exclusively along the diplomatic path.

The Russian Ministry of Defense disseminated information that Ukraine allegedly uses synagogues for military purposes. It is not true. This statement was commented on by the head of the Rabbi Nachman International Charitable Foundation, Nathan Ben Nun, and the head of the Jewish rescue organization Hatzalah Ukraine, Rabbi Hillel Cohen, who noted that “all shrines and religious objects of the Hasidic society are used exclusively for their intended purpose, namely for carrying out religious rituals and helping people”. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Defense Forces by disseminating information that Ukrainian military personnel are based in religious buildings, and to legitimize attacks on civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, and cultural monuments.

In Moldovan anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, a message appeared that supposedly all conveniences were being created for Hasidim, while other citizens were not allowed to visit the airport. “Smacks of discrimination, doesn’t it?” – they wrote in one of the telegram channels. In fact, in order to eliminate all risks, access to the airport is currently limited to airport employees and passengers with airline tickets. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to cause a negative attitude towards believers and stir up anti-Semitic sentiments, and discourage Hasidim from ever coming to Ukraine again.

Russian media and anonymous telegram channels circulate publications according to which Putin has not yet destroyed Ukraine because he does not want to kill Christians. Like, Russia has everything to defeat Ukraine, but the Russian troops “pity the Ukrainians”,  because Putin considers them Orthodox, like Russians.

Specialists of the EUvsDisInfo project drew attention to the message. They denied the message. In particular, the Russians undoubtedly killed and continue to kill Ukrainians, regardless of their religion. They continue to attack civilian targets, often using the “double blast” technique to increase casualties. Russia is also destroying numerous religious sites, such as an Orthodox church in Odesa. Project analysts note that Russia's failure at the front is more likely the result of systemic problems of the Russian army, logistical shortcomings and inappropriate planning, rather than self-restraint.

Using this message, propagandists want to portray Russia as a victim, fighting with a view to the safety of civilians. However, the examples mentioned above prove otherwise.

Pro-Kremlin media disseminated information that Ukrainians allegedly included Pope Francis in the Peacemaker database, which publishes enemies of Ukraine and is a center for researching signs of crimes against Ukraine’s national security, peace, human security and international law. Pope Francis allegedly came to this site due to the fact that he called on Russians “not to abandon the legacy of the majestic empire”. It's fake.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation. The propagandists came up with this news, because there is no mention of Pope Francis on the website of the Peacemaker. That is, it was not included in the database.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Ukraine and worsen its relations with Western partners and world leaders on the basis of religion. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Pope Francis called for the release of Pavlo Lebed, Metropolitan of the UOC-MP, from arrest.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that Ukraine is preparing to carry out armed provocations against Hasidic pilgrims. The Ukrainian military will allegedly launch a missile attack on Uman during Rosh Hashanah New Year celebrations to blackmail Israel into getting their air defense system. They refer to the words of Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniichuk. It is not true.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. In an interview with Liga.net, he said that Russia may resort to provocations against Hasidic pilgrims who come to celebrate the New Year in Ukraine. That is why Ukraine offered Israel to provide air defense to protect its citizens. The Russian media distorted what the ambassador said and said that Kyiv was preparing a provocation against the Hasidim.

Russian propaganda uses repulse tactics to shift the responsibility for Russia's crimes to Ukraine - to accuse it of shelling Ukrainian territories. However, it is Russia that is shelling Ukrainian cities. Also, propagandists are trying to quarrel Ukraine with Western partners. Earlier we talked about the message that the Russian military “destroyed” an ammunition depot in Uman.

Russian media, broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, reported that the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra will be populated by servicemen of the Azov Battalion, who will “shout, swear, suck on already legalized drugs, drink, mock, commit arbitrariness”. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project. The National Reserve Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra presented a program for military personnel “Spiritual Restoration of Culture”. Within 7 days, the military and chaplains will communicate with the clergy, historians, art historians, archaeologists, etc. Under this program, chaplains will reside on the premises of the National Academy of Cultural and Art Leadership. Therefore, we are not talking about the settlement of military personnel on a permanent basis or the transfer of Lavra to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Thus, the Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Azov military personnel and split the society through religion. Earlier, we refuted the fake that NATO could involve the Azov and Kraken battalions to suppress protests in France.

Russian media and anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that in the village of Piskivka, Buchanskyi district, Kyiv region, the director of the cemetery allegedly refused to provide a place for the burial of a Ukrainian military man, which is why the funeral procession was not allowed into the cemetery. They also add videos. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case. In the video, the woman is outraged that the procession was not allowed through the main alley of the cemetery, because of which she went along the field road. Fact-checkers turned to the Piskivka community, where they completely denied this information. Moreover, this cemetery is not located in the village of Piskivka.

Probably, the procession was not allowed because of the main entrance, because repairs were being carried out there, so they had to take a detour. The checkers also confirmed that this cemetery is located in the Sviatovasylevska community of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Thus, the Russian propaganda is trying to show that in Ukraine the Ukrainian military is treated with disdain and the society is split. Earlier, we refuted the fake that the Ukrainian military fired at the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.

Anonymous telegram channels and Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are spreading information that the Pope allegedly called on the Ukrainian authorities to release the vicar of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo Lebid (Pasha Mercedes). Pope Francis allegedly made such a statement during a personal conversation with the representative of the World Union of Old Believers Leonid Sevastianov. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. There is no information that Pope Francis called on the Ukrainian authorities to release Metropolitan Pavlo Lebid on any of the official resources of the Vatican and Pope Francis. Moreover, the Vatican website does not even contain information that he had a meeting with the head of the World Union of Old Believers, Leonid Sevastianov, in 2023. Some Russian media indicate that Pope Francis made such a statement during a personal meeting with Leonid Sevastianov. However, the head of the Union of Old Believers repeatedly made loud statements that did not correspond to reality. And that is why the Russian propaganda resources themselves are distrustful of his words.

We recall that on April 1, the SBU handed a suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code to the Lavra’s abbot and Metropolitan of the UOC-MP Pavlo Lebid: incitement of inter-religious hatred (article 161 of the Criminal Code) and dissemination of materials justifying Russian aggression (article 436-2). Thus, the Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Pope Francis and the Ukrainian authorities, who allegedly detained the innocent Metropolitan of the UOC-MP.

Russian propagandists are trying to split Ukrainian society along religious lines. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the tactics of how Russian propaganda instrumentalizes religious issues for its own purposes.

Russian media and social media users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric claim that it is planned to hold a sale of icons from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra at a separate auction in Paris. Like, proof of this is a photo of a billboard announcing an event with a scheduled date of October 1. It's fake.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They took a comment from the representative of the Auction House Osenat indicated on the billboard. He stated that this announcement is fake, like the “auction” itself. In addition, on the official website of the House, one can see that there are no auctions or other events scheduled for October 1st.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to show that Western countries allegedly deliberately take out works of art from the historical monuments of Ukraine, so as not to return them ever again. However, in fact, some exhibits are being evacuated to European museums precisely because of the relentless Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure. Detector Media wrote how Russian propaganda instrumentalizes the history of Ukraine for its own purposes.

In the Russian and Georgian segment of Facebook and in the media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, they disseminate information with reference to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service that Kyiv allegedly agreed with UNESCO to transfer the Orthodox relics of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to museums in Italy, France and France as if the holy relics had to be taken out in order to preserve them. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case. They established that the information about the removal of holy relics from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to European countries is false. The Minister of Culture of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko wrote on his Facebook page that “not a single sacred value will leave the territory of Ukraine”.  Also, the acting director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Maksym Ostapenko, noted that “the reserve did not have such plans and will not have them”. Information about this agreement cannot be found on the official website of UNESCO. This fake was denied on the official Facebook pages of the Ministry of Culture and the National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO.

By spreading information that Kyiv has agreed to transfer relics to European countries, propagandists are trying to discredit UNESCO and the Ukrainian authorities. Russian propaganda created a fake to sow religious discord, as well as divert attention from the crimes committed by Russia, in particular, from the looting of museums and galleries. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the message that allegedly Russia does not destroy Ukrainian cultural and historical heritage.

This thesis was circulated in telegram channels and Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric after the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) decided on May 24 to switch to the New Julian calendar. According to it, Christmas will be celebrated in December. “How does this relate to the Orthodox Church and Orthodoxy? This is the CC (Catholic Church) already”, the propagandists wrote. Also, the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmytro Pieskov, called the decision of the “schismatic OCU” to celebrate Christmas on December 25 “madness and bacchanalia”. He suggested waiting until Ukraine “announces that there is no longer a Ukrainian language, but an American language”.

However, such conclusions are unfounded. On December 25, Christmas is celebrated not only by Catholics, but by Orthodox, Catholics, as well as Greek Catholics. However, no one knows the real date of the birth of Jesus Christ, this date is arbitrary. In the West, Christmas is celebrated mainly according to the Gregorian calendar (i.e. December 25), while in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, a large number of believers follow the Julian calendar (January 7), which is not very accurate. During the revolution, the Ukrainian People's Republic switched to the new Gregorian calendar, and with them the Bolsheviks. However, the church remained on the Julian calendar. Because of this, there are discrepancies in dates.

Dmytro Pieskov's statement about a “schismatic OCU” continues the propaganda narrative that only the Russian Orthodox Church or the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is canonical. And the statement about the American language continues the narrative about Ukraine's dependence on the West.

By spreading this message, Russian propagandists are trying to convince Ukrainians and the world that Ukraine's actions are contrary to religious canons. Also in this way, Russian propaganda justifies Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, noting the need to save the “canonical Orthodox Church”. Earlier, Detector Media told that there is no “canonical” or “non-canonical” church and why there is no “Catholic Christmas”.

Anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric claim that the Vatican and the Pope personally are upset by the position of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi regarding the war against Ukraine. The Italian media seems to be writing about this. In addition, propagandists appeal to the fact that they called Zelenskyi's Peace Formula a “provocation”. This is manipulation.

The Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano published its findings on the recent visit of the President of Ukraine to the Vatican. Journalists of the publication believe that the Pope is personally upset by Zelenskyi's position as “everything is at stake” because of the counteroffensive. In addition, according to their version, Ukraine tried to provoke the Vatican by offering its own vision of the world, which includes military assistance to Ukraine.

Such conclusions can be considered speculation, since there are no confirmed statements in the publication. In addition, given the special (apolitical) status of the Vatican as a state, Pope Francis's calls for peace do not mean disappointment in Ukraine or disagreement with its policies. In their official statements, Vatican officials consistently recognize Ukraine as a victim of Russian aggression and call for an end to Russia's fighting. Moreover, Il Fatto Quotidiano is not very popular in Italy itself and from time to time publishes pro-Russian narratives, covering them up with “personal opinion”.

Referring to this material, the propagandists want to impose the opinion that Ukraine wants an escalation and is asking for support for it even from the clergy. However, Ukraine is defending itself from Russian aggression, and the supply of weapons is an effective way to deter and counter this aggression.

Anonymous telegram channels, where pro-Russian rhetoric is circulating, spread messages  showing a photo allegedly taken in Kamianets-Podilskyi, in which, at the entrance to the bike workshop, it is written that “parishioners of the UOC-MP” are not served there. Along with this image, the propagandists add a photo that shows a sticker on a telephone booth in Munich during the Third Reich, which forbade Jews from using the phone. Propagandists claim that this is yet another proof that Ukrainians have become neo-Nazis.

When trying to search for an image allegedly from Kamianets-Podilskyi published in such messages, it can only be found in pro-Russian Twitter accounts and Reddit threads. It's impossible to find it on social media. Accordingly, its reliability is doubtful, and the original source is incomprehensible.

This message is not used for the first time. Thus, the propagandists want to justify the crimes of the Russians and the aggression against Ukraine in general. Like, that's why they talk about denazification. The identification of the “oppression” of supporters of the UOC-MP with the genocide of Jews also devalues the scale of the tragedy of the Second World War.

Propagandists are constantly spreading information about the UOC-MP, inventing various fakes. In particular, Detector Media wrote about “blackened crosses” in the church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra because of the “blasphemy of Ukrainians”.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, in the Georgian segment of Facebook. Reports say that the representative office of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has decided to choose new clothes for the clergy. The authors of the messages provide screenshots with new items of clothing, which are all made in black and look more like a tracksuit. Dressed in a suit, the model is depicted with white makeup on the face, in black trousers and a blouse with a hood. As the authors of the messages say, “this is the real face of the OCU”. It is not true.

The specialists of the Myth Detector project investigated this case and found out that such information is not true. Fact-checkers previously contacted the press service of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. They said that such statements about the selection of a new outfit are false. According to the press service, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has not made such a decision and will not consider it in the future.

This thesis was disseminated in social networks, in particular on broadcasting telegram channels. The case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project, who determined that on April 6, 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine handed a suspicion to the head of the Cherkasy diocese of the UOC-MP Feodosii (Snihiriov). However, according to the department, the metropolitan not only created a website following the UOC template, but also used Russian software, with the help of which news and theses justifying Russian aggression from Russian news resources were relayed to the Ukrainian information space. For example, the site praised the activities of Moscow priests who helped the aggressor and called for the unification of religious communities in the war against Ukraine.

Reports say that the Security Service of Ukraine reported suspicion of high treason to the Metropolitan of the Cherkasy diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate for creating a website “based on the template of the Russian Orthodox Church”. They say that there is no freedom of speech in Ukraine, and even the “website template” gives grounds for accusations of treason. This is manipulation.

Pro-Kremlin media and telegram channels did not provide complete information and began to claim that the only evidence against the Metropolitan of the UOC-MP was a website based on the template of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook. Reports say unidentified individuals attacked the “famous” Bishop of the Orthodox Church in Ivano-Frankivsk, Mykyta, and the attackers were not punished by the police. Like, the Ukrainians want to get rid of all the clergy in Ukraine. Moreover, these posts are advertised on Facebook, and videos are cited as evidence. It is not true.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security explains that such information is not true. In the publication itself, the authors made lexical and spelling errors indicating the use of a translator. Some sentences in the publication are illogically constructed and do not correspond to the norms of the Ukrainian language. In addition, the authors of the messages do not indicate exactly which church the bishop belongs to.

Such fakes are spread through Facebook pages without a specific description and content. Usually these pages have neutral titles. Thus, the authors avoid additional moderation by Meta, which owns Facebook. So, analysts urge to complain about such manifestations of advertising.

In one of our case investigations, we previously described in more detail how Russian bots use Facebook ads to spread anti-Ukrainian narratives.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine refuses to recognize the church rituals of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Like, even burials according to the customs of the UOC-MP are no longer recognized. As proof, the authors of the messages add a photo of the announcement posted in front of the cemetery. It states that the costs associated with reburial, according to the new requirements of the church, must be borne by the relatives of the deceased. It is not true.

The case was taken up by the fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News”, who found out that there was no information from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine about objections to the rites of the UOC-MP. Therefore, as the fact-checkers say, the information on the “announcement” is not true. However, the fact-checkers were not able to see the signs of photoshop in the photo, so it is likely that the unknown person actually made an “announcement” and photographed it against the background of the cemetery.

At the same time, analysts note that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine does recognize the rites of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, while the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate denies the sacraments of the OCU. The Metropolitan of the Russian Church, in particular, recommends rebaptizing those people who “have not been baptized in a real Orthodox Church”.

Such information is disseminated by a number of Facebook accounts and Russian propagandists on Telegram channels, who previously spread information about the struggle of the Ukrainian authorities with Orthodoxy and the UOC-MP. This is manipulation.

Myth Detector specialists drew attention to the case. On April 11, the Kyiv state administration issued a statement on the celebration of the Easter holidays under martial law. The curfew is in effect from 00:00 to 05:00, and residents are urged to give preference to online broadcasts of services. The website of the Kyiv city state administration says that the city authorities “appeal to the leaders of religious communities with a request to limit the holding of mass worship services and to ensure as much as possible online broadcasts from places of worship on Ukrainian TV channels and via the Internet”.

By spreading such manipulation, propagandists are trying to create a religious conflict, sow enmity in society and split it. Earlier, Detector Media debunked the fake that Ukrainian nationalists allegedly set fire to the temple of the UOC-MP in the Mykolaiv region.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that in Lviv, at the Lychakiv military cemetery, the remains of the First World War and Soviet soldiers are being “thrown out” from the graves. The authors add to the publications that, they say, the cemetery management “makes room for the fallen Ukrainian soldiers”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, they established that excavations on the territory of the Lychakiv military cemetery are indeed being carried out in order to discover the remains of the bodies of the Soviet military and from the time of the World War. However, according to archival documentation, all the burials of the First World War were moved back to Soviet times long ago. However, modern archaeologists find the remains of the bodies of warriors in the cemetery.

As Liliia Onyshchenko, adviser to the mayor of Lviv on the preservation of cultural heritage, explained, the purpose of the work at the cemetery is to identify older burials and their subsequent reburial. According to Onyshchenko, the Soviet authorities did not check how well the remains were transferred and began to carry out their burials there. At the place where the excavations are carried out, the remains of bodies are found, according to the documents of which there should not be.

A press release from the Lviv city council says that the remains will not be “thrown away” but will be reburied. Burials of the First World War will be hidden near the cemetery, where the Memorial Complex will be built later. At the same time, the remains of the Soviet era will be temporarily stored in a special depository (institutions providing storage services, in this case, the storage of the remains of bodies).

Such information appeared in the Ukrainian segment of social networks, in particular, on Facebook. The authors of the messages create separate communities and through them distribute posts with photographs of mutilated Ukrainian high-rise buildings with an appeal to write “Amen” in the comments and follow the link. Allegedly, after that the priest will pray for the people and there will be peace, there will be a victory for Ukraine.

The fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project drew attention to the case, referring to the NGO “CLEAR INFO”, which determined that these pages are supervised by a Chinese sect. At the same time, the groups are administered mainly in Spain. According to fact-checkers, active commentators are being recruited into a Chinese sect, which is now banned in that country. This is the so-called “Church of Almighty God”.

If you click on a link in messages with a call to write “Amen”, people are sent to the Facebook messenger. This is a chat with the user “Church of Almighty God”, where they offer to take part in an “international online lecture on the topic: How to get out of trouble and receive God's blessing”. They also promise that “this is a conversation that will give God's blessing, and the priest will pray for the will of all the faithful present”.

After that, the “Church of Almighty God” asked to add user “Oksana Oksana” as a friend, because “only she can add to the group” where the sermon will take place. Thus, Ukrainians continue to be recruited into the sect. New participants are recruited in a similar way in many countries, including Spanish speakers. If in the case of Ukraine communities mimic Orthodox Christians, in Western countries they mimic Catholics.

The “Church of Almighty God” (or “Eastern Lightning”) is a religious community that originated in China in 1991. Its founder, Zhao Wenshan, fled China in 2000 for the United States, where he received political asylum as a man persecuted by religious views. The main teaching of the sect is that the expected Second Coming of Christ has already arrived and that He lives now in the form of the Chinese Yan Xiangbin. This Chinese woman, according to the information available on the network, went to the United States with the founder of the sect and is (or at least was at that time) in a relationship with him.

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.

This thesis is spread by the Kremlin media. Like, Washington's goal is to strike at the religious sphere of Ukraine and split Orthodoxy. To achieve this goal, the United States has developed mechanisms for direct and indirect influence on the religious policy of Kyiv, aimed at oppressing the Orthodox Church.

At the same time, experts from the EU vs Disinfo team note that although Kremlin propaganda often depicts Ukraine as an enemy of Orthodoxy, this is not true. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies indeed conducted a number of searches at the facilities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). However, the searches were carried out not in order to split Orthodoxy, but to reveal the subversive activities of the Russian special services in the religious environment of Ukraine, because the UOC-MP is considered one of Moscow’s key instruments of influence in Ukraine.

With the help of such messages, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and accuse Ukraine of oppression of religion. Let us remind you that Detector Media has already written about similar misinformation stories about the situation with the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. For example, about the blackening of crosses on the church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra because of “Ukrainian blasphemy” and the alleged recognition of the fact of discrimination against the Orthodox Church in Ukraine by the UN.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say the UN has released a report discrediting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The authors of the messages refer to the report for the period from August 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project checked this thesis and found that the report refers to the situation with respect for human rights in Ukraine and in the territories occupied by Russia. During the investigation, the UN Commission recorded numerous war crimes committed by the army of the terrorist country. The UN report also identified specific war crimes, which include attacks on civilians and shelling of energy infrastructure facilities, deliberate killings, false imprisonment, torture, rape and other types of sexual violence, as well as the illegal transfer and deportation of children. However, the report did address issues of religious freedom.

Of the 38 pages of the report, several paragraphs were allocated to the topic of freedom of religion in Ukraine which took less than one page. That is why the thesis that the entire report is devoted to “discrimination against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)” is manipulative. Moreover, in the report, in only one sentence, they suggested that the activities of the state against the UOC could be discriminatory, and did not claim this as a fait accompli.

Propagandists systematically spread manipulations about the UN report to hide their crimes from domestic audiences and show that Russia is not the aggressor and is not to blame for anything. For example, analysts of Detector Media analyzed a manipulation stating that the UN investigation “found no evidence of the genocide of Ukrainians” during the Russian-Ukrainian war. We explained the message that the so-called “evacuation” of Ukrainian children is “not a war crime”. They also found a message that allegedly the UN Security Council “does not care about the suffering of the inhabitants of Donbas”.

Such a disinformation campaign was recorded by specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. As they say, in the telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, there are messages about “Ukrainian Nazis who hate other religions”, including Islam. The authors of the messages are trying to convince that “Ukraine is a godless/Satanist state”, in particular, by spreading fake stories about the burning of the Koran by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and so on.

As experts explain, the purpose of this disinformation campaign is to stir up sectarian strife and demonize Ukraine and Ukrainians in the eyes of Muslims. In addition, analysts say another goal of the disinformation campaign is to increase the level of mobilization among Muslim believers.

The second important factor was the start date of the great religious holiday of Muslims Ramadan. Before that, the propagandists received training manuals stating that with the help of fakes and disinformation campaigns, they should ignite an interreligious conflict between Ukrainians and Muslims, which should develop into a religious war. No wonder the fake about the burning of the Koran was recorded on March 15, the international day against Islamophobia.

Consequently, the Russians are trying to demonize the Ukrainians and present them as enemies of all peoples. Russian propaganda positions Ukraine as an aggressor, but hides its own actions. At the same time, propagandists reflect their actions in this way and say that it is Ukrainians who kill civilians, profess hatred for many peoples, and despise other cultures and religions.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Zelenskyi has launched the latest “offensive against Orthodoxy”. Like, the “attack" on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the eviction of priests testifies to the “satanist views of the Ukrainian authorities”.

The experts of the EU vs Disinfo investigated the case and explained that the topic of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine escalated after sanctions were imposed on the UOC-MP by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, as well as after the termination of the right to lease part of the premises of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and a number of searches and criminal cases against priests. Russian propaganda considers such actions of Ukraine illegal, but does not take into account that, in general, it has no right to interfere in the affairs of another sovereign state.

Ukraine “does not capture” the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, because it has always been state property. In 2013, the Azarov government leased the premises of the Lavra to the UOC-MP. However, in 2022, a special commission found that the UOC-MP violated the terms of the lease agreement. For example, illegal construction and reconstruction of historical monuments was carried out on the territory of the Lavra.

Thus, propaganda is trying to convince its consumers that Ukraine's actions are contrary to religious canons, and therefore it is worth mobilizing and saving the “canonical Orthodox Church” with weapons.

On March 29, 2023, the Agreement on the lease of premises between the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” and the UOC-MP ended. The representation of the UOC-MP should leave the Lavra, but the clergy of the church refused to comply with the decision of the Ministry of Culture. On March 30, representatives of the UOC-MP held a service in the Lavra, which was broadcast live on social networks. Metropolitan of the UOC-MP Pavlo behaved aggressively and threatened to beat the journalist with a stick.

This thesis appeared in Russian propaganda media and on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say that one of the UN reports noted that Ukraine discriminates against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Like, the report was published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and concerned freedom of religion in Ukraine. However, this is not true. The UN has not published any report on this topic.

In the messages, the propagandists referred to a long document titled “Report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine – 1 August 2022 – 31 January 2023”, published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 24 March 2023. It contains a single paragraph about searches by the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) in the premises of the UOC and reports of suspicion to the clergy of the UOC, as well as the sentence: “OHCHR is concerned that the activities of the state against the UOC may be discriminatory”. But, in general, the report concerns war crimes of Russians in Ukraine. However, propagandists are silent about this in their messages.

Russian propaganda needs such fakes to discredit Ukraine and the Ukrainian authorities. Thus, Russian propagandists show that even in international organizations, the attitude towards Ukraine is allegedly changing and the world is beginning to understand what Ukrainians really are.

Propagandists spread information that thousands of Ukrainians protested in defense of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Allegedly, they oppose the oppression of Orthodox Ukrainians. The authors of posts on this topic even add a “photo” from the “protests”. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that when looking for  images that are added as evidence of “protests”, one can see that they were actually taken on March 12 this year. On that day, believers gathered for Divine Liturgy at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on the feast day of the Cathedral of All Saints of the Caves. A video from this event was published by the page of the UOC-MP.

Thus, Russian propagandists want to intensify their information campaign on the “oppression of religion” by the “Kyiv regime”. Allegedly, the Nazi regime oppresses people for believing in God. For the same purpose, propagandists recently wrote about “blackened crosses” on the territory of Lavra.

This information was disseminated by the Russian propaganda media. Like, since the Ukrainian authorities are atheists, they will deny access to the holy relics in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra starting from March 21. In their messages, the propagandists refer to the video of Klyment, a head of the Synodal information and education department, metropolitan of Nizhyn and Pryluky, which appeared on the telegram channel of the UOC-MP. Klyment stated that on March 20, the monastery received a letter from the leadership of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra national reserve with a message that the museum would now stop access to the Near and Far Caves due to the work of the commission, which will determine the level of safety of cultural values. The priest called this approach of the Ukrainian authorities “atheistic”. However, this is manipulation.

In fact, it is not about closing access to the caves forever but checking the caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and their temporary closure for parishioners. Such actions are held completely in accordance with the law and are not an “atheistic approach”.

The fact checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. According to them, a commission is working on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra reserve to check the availability, storage conditions and state of preservation of cultural values. The monastery is located on the territory of the National Reserve on the basis of an agreement for the free use by a religious organization of religious buildings and other property that is state property. This agreement expires on March 29, 2023. “The check of the state commission should be completed on May 15 this year, and the caves of the Lavra will again be open to parishioners”, the fact-checkers said in a statement.

However, with the help of such fakes, Russian propaganda seeks to once again expose the Ukrainian authorities as unprofessional. Like, the authorities violate the law because of their atheistic views.

This message was circulated on social networks and in the propaganda media. The reports say that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine “sows confusion”, kicking out the UOC (MP) from the territory of Ukraine. Allegedly, even “crosses got black” on one of the main temples of Ukraine, because of the blasphemous actions of Ukrainians. As the authors of the messages add, the crosses turned black after Metropolitan Epiphanii conducted the divine liturgy during Christmas. A photograph is also added to the publication with an alleged image of the church “before and after”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Liar) project investigated this case and found that no crosses “blackened” and this is not a sign “from above”, as the propagandists are trying to convince. As they further explain, the photo actually shows the crosses of the Refectory cathedral. At the same time, Metropolitan Epiphanii did not hold divine services either in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra or in the Refectory cathedral on Christmas Day. By that time he served in the Uspenskyi (Assumption) Cathedral.

Regarding the “black crosses” at the Refectory cathedral, this is a consequence of the appropriate shooting angle. Fact-checkers managed to find several photos with the so-called black crosses from at least three angles of the Refectory cathedral. Photos are dated from 2009 to the present. Fact-checkers say that the crosses on the cathedral are dull by themselves, and if they are removed against the light, they will really appear black.

Propagandists systematically expand manipulations on the topic of religion in Ukraine. Especially when the Orthodox Church of Ukraine received the right to autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Russian propaganda began to call Ukrainians schismatics. Like, this church is not real and illegal, all the believers visiting it are not real Orthodox. In particular, propagandists said that paganism is being promoted in Ukraine, and Orthodox shrines are being destroyed. Thus, propagandists incite religious discord and try to nourish the narrative about the existence of the so-called “one and inseparable people”. At the same time, those who do not recognize the Moscow patriarchate are called sinners and schismatics by the Russian propaganda.

We recall that Detector Media previously also refuted the fake, in which they claimed that because of the blasphemy of Kyiv, flocks of crows are circling the city, and also explained the message about the “desantanization” and “deshaitanization” of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

Propagandists are spreading information that the Vinnytsia diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church allegedly issued a statement according to which the killing of Russians is not a sin and in which it blesses the Ukrainian military to “wipe the Russian nation off the face of the Earth”. It's fake.

Analysts of the Georgian project MythDetector drew attention to it. They found out that the “statement” was not real. Several details point to this. In particular, the Kyiv patriarchate is indicated in the heading of the “statement”, and allegedly the Metropolitan of the Moscow patriarchate signed the “statement”. In addition, the heading of the “statement” is not correct - the Kyiv Patriarchate of the UOC merged with the OCU in 2019. In a comment to MythDetector, archimandrite Sofronii Chupryna, spokesman for the diocese of Vinnytsa-Bar, denied the diocese's involvement in this “statement”. He also noted that usually monks and priests do not sign documents with a regular signature, but write their names in manuscript. On the “statement” one can see the classic signature.

Thus, propagandists want to show that the UOC has departed from the traditions of Orthodoxy and is a demonic institution. They say that even the church in Ukraine calls for murders, while Ukraine itself is already in the spiritless networks of the West. Such materials are part of a large-scale propaganda information campaign about the need to “desatanize” Ukraine.

Russian propagandists are spreading the message that a Ukrainian court has ordered the demolition of the Church of the Tithes (Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) in Kyiv. Like, the Ukrainians want to destroy the historical building restored in 2007, which is more than 1000 years old. This is manipulation.

EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the spread of manipulation, in particular to a foreign audience. Tithe Church is considered the first stone church of Kyiv Rus. The church was destroyed during the Mongol assault on Kyiv in 1240. The renovated Tithe Church was destroyed again in 1928. Since that time, the church has not been restored. The remains of the foundation of the Church of the Tithes are a monument of national importance. Both the foundation and the area around it are protected by UNESCO.

Propaganda reports speak of the demolition of a chapel near the foundations of the Church of the Tithes, which representatives of the Moscow patriarchate church call the Tithe Monastery of the nativity of the holy theotokos. The Church of the Moscow patriarchate received permission to place a tent on this site for a one-time festive service. After that, they did not remove the tent, moreover, they turned it into a full-fledged chapel, despite the fact that any construction on this historical territory is prohibited. That is, the court decision refers to the demolition of an illegal structure in the historical part of the city, and not an ancient Orthodox church.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates religious topics, in particular, claims that Ukraine is on the verge of a large-scale inter-confessional conflict, Ukrainians defame Orthodoxy, that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine calls on its own behalf to kill Russians. Thus, they are trying to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and quarrel Ukrainians with different religious beliefs.

Such a “postcard” was distributed on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “postcard” states that the so-called Department of cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law enforcement agencies of Ukraine under the Orthodox Church of Ukraine of the Kyiv Patriarchate calls on Ukrainian soldiers to kill Russians. Allegedly, the metropolitan himself signed the postcard, which means that the Ukrainian church calls for murders on its own behalf.

Analysts of the NotaYenota project took up this case and determined that the postcard was fake. Analysts analyzed this “postcard” and found a number of inaccuracies in it, in particular:

There has been no Kyiv Patriarchate in Ukraine since 2018;

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine does not have a “Department of cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law enforcement agencies of Ukraine”. Instead, there is such a department in the Russian Orthodox Church;

Varsonofii, whose name the “postcard” was signed with, is in fact the Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, emphasized that it is not a sin to wish death on the enemy and to kill the Russian occupiers. However, there were no calls to “kill on behalf of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine”.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, in telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Romanian authorities have reportedly offered parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to come under the protectorate of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The authors refer to the “Appeal to the Romanian Priests in Ukraine”, which states this. It is not true.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to this case and determined that the Romanian authorities did not announce their intention to establish a protectorate over the parishes of the UOC MP in Ukraine. Analysts explain that the authors of the publication refer to an appeal from priests who are under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. At the same time, indeed, several Romanian non-governmental organizations signed the appeal, but this cannot reflect the official position of the Romanian authorities. Experts note that Romania supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

By spreading this fake, propagandists want to convince that the so-called “true Orthodoxy” led by the UOC MP is ready to defend the whole world. Russian propaganda positions the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as the only correct and canonical one. And the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is false and illegal, all the believers who visit it are false Orthodox.

We recall that earlier Detector Media also explained the message, which claimed that Ukraine denigrates Orthodoxy by separating from the Moscow Patriarchate.

For a long time, Kremlin publications have been spreading the message that the “collective West” is mired in its own lack of spirituality and attracts Ukraine. As “evidence” propagandists come up with different stories, such as, for example, the legalization of pedophilia and bestiality in Spain. They also take decisions and ideas out of context, as if the Church of England had decided on a gender-neutral definition of God. The message was repeated by Russian President Volodymyr Putin in his annual federal address. In particular, he stated that “only a man and a woman can be a family”, “moral degradation” does not exist in Russia, and that one of the reasons for the war against Ukraine is “protection of world morality”.

Such reports are obviously speculation, since the concept of spirituality is subjective, but the problem of discrimination on any grounds, including sexual and gender identity, is not. If to talk about fakes on pedophilia and bestiality, in this case we are talking about the recently adopted package of progressive laws in Spain. In particular, they ensure women's rights to go on paid “menstrual leave” and remove a number of restrictions on abortion. However, these laws do not cover bestiality or pedophilia. In the story of a gender-neutral definition of God, the main institutions of the Anglican church have only announced their desire to address this issue this spring. In addition, the appeals of Europe and the United States in this context are only advisory in nature, and the government of Ukraine has the final say on whether to implement them or not.

In such a way, Russia is again turning to the point of humiliation and ridicule of representatives of the LGBT community. Moreover, such a method of propaganda renews its true aggression against Ukraine. However, it shows that if one analyzes the statistics on the level of sexual violence in the countries of the EU and Russia, Russia itself is in a worse condition. Detector Media has previously explained why the topic of Russian disinformation is important for representatives of LGBT communities.

Lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili is spreading the message in the Georgian segment of social networks. It says that an icon of Bandera was allegedly created, which they plan to send to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. He also added a photo of an icon, in the center of which is the coat of arms of Ukraine, and the coats of arms of the Azov battalion are in the upper corners. It's fake.

The image of the icon has been changed in photo editors. Mith Detector fact-checkers found out that in fact this is the icon of the “Albazynska” Mother of God. In the photo editor, they replaced the face and added a coat of arms to the image of Jesus.

In June, propagandists spread a fake that the Orthodox church of Ukraine (OCU) had decided to canonize Stepan Bandera. Probably, a new version of the fake news is needed to strengthen the messages about the inter-confessional conflict in Ukraine, the forced transfer of churches to the OCU, the desecration of sacred places, etc.

Videos circulating online show large flocks of dark birds flying near buildings. They write that these videos were allegedly filmed in Kyiv. The Russian media write that this was due to the anti-religious policy of the “Kyiv regime”: state-sponsored sacrilege, the destruction of churches and the persecution of priests. This is manipulation.

Part of the video was actually filmed in Kyiv, and part in Houston (USA) back in 2017. Video from Houston in 2020 was used as “proof” of the effects of typhoon Molave in Vietnam. The migration of large numbers of birds has nothing to do with conspiracy theories or “satanic rituals”.

As the Myth Detector fact checkers explain, this bird behavior is called murmuring. Scientists consider murmurations a way to protect themselves from predators or to exchange information about favorable feeding grounds.

Such manipulations of Russian propaganda nourish messages about the “destruction” of the Moscow patriarchate church, about the need to “desatanize” Ukraine, which promotes paganism. Russian propaganda deliberately divides Ukrainians by religion in order to exacerbate internal disputes and further destabilize the situation in Ukraine.

This message is spread by pro-Russian users of social networks, including the Georgian segment of Facebook. The publications say that after the sanctioning of the churches of the Moscow patriarchate in Ukraine, Ukrainians began to behave not like real Christians, and their level of spirituality, according to the authors of the message, is low. Like, Ukrainians denigrate canonical Orthodoxy. As proof, Facebook users attach a series of video clips to the message, in which, allegedly, “goodness knows” happens in Ukrainian churches, and this contradicts all Christian canons.

Fact-checkers of the MythDetector project explained that people began to massively distribute video clips from the Russian-language segment of TikTok on Facebook. In fact, the video shows a regular Vertep (Nativity scene) performing one of the scenes adapted to real life. In the video, one can see the likeness of Putin, devils and death. From the dialogue of the parties it is clear that Putin is equated with Herod - a very cruel, ferocious person. Actually, Herod is the main antagonist of the Nativity scene, because he dreams of killing the newborn Jesus. In a new interpretation, he wants to create a “Russian world” and defeat Ukraine, but death kills Putin. Death in the classical Nativity scene appears as the protagonist of Herod. The rest of the performance is not visible in the circulated video.

Fact-checkers add that the theatrical scene took place in Greek Catholic churches, and not in the churches of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. One of the videos was filmed in Zarvanytsia, Ternopil region, in the Cathedral of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia, and the other was made in Truskavets, in the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Theotokos. However, this does not change the essence of the fact that the Nativity scene is a tradition of the Ukrainian church and, despite the denomination, we celebrate the only Christmas.

This message is beneficial to Russian propaganda in order to discredit Ukrainians, to show that their values are unworthy. Earlier, Detector Media debunked a number of fakes about allegedly incorrect Orthodoxy in Ukraine, including that paganism is being spread in Ukraine.

Such a message is being shared by propagandists on social networks and telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. It says that Ukraine wants to destroy Orthodoxy and at the same time promote paganism, because supposedly there are no real shrines left on the territory of Ukraine after the sanctioning of the Moscow Patriarchate church. That is why, according to propagandists, there is reason to believe that the process of abandoning the Moscow Patriarchate is aimed at replacing canonical Orthodoxy with “neopaganism”.

However, as analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project explain, the Ukrainian authorities neither plan to ban Orthodoxy, nor promote “neopaganism”. Parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate can freely transfer to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which received the tomos of autocephaly in January 2019. In addition, 78% of Orthodox believers declare their allegiance to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

By spreading this message, propagandists are trying to downplay the significance of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine for Ukrainians, presenting it as schismatic, separated from the real, canonical one. In contrast, propagandists do not stop positioning the Moscow Patriarchate as the only possible way to practice Orthodoxy. Thus, the enemies want to ideologically unite Ukrainians and Russians in order to promote the narrative of one people. At the same time, those who do not recognize the Moscow Patriarchate are sinners and schismatics.

Such a message is spread by pro-Russian telegram channels. The messages include a video with the participation of the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Pavlo, in which he calls Patriarch Filaret a “schismatic”, and the head of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifanii, a “self saint”. He also says that the Uspenskyi (Holy Assumption) cathedral was given to the OCU for holding a festive service. As if people from all over Ukraine would be “specially” brought there and paid for participation in the liturgy.

For these statements criminal proceedings were opened against Pavlo, the Metropolitan of the church of the Moscow patriarchate, on the fact of inciting religious hatred. This was announced by People's deputy Yaroslav Yurchyshyn.

In January 2019, ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew signed the Tomos on the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian church was officially established on January 30, 2019. The Church of the Moscow patriarchate has not yet recognized the creation of the OCU.

In January 2023, Metropolitan Epifanii held a festive Christmas service for the first time at the Uspenskyi (Holy Assumption) cathedral. After that, Russian propaganda spread messages that only militants and the press were present at the liturgy.

After the Security service of Ukraine (SBU) opened a case about the glorification of the “Russian world” in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Russian propaganda began to spread messages in defense of the Moscow patriarchate church. In particular, they said that Ukraine is “destroying” the largest religious denomination. They also wrote that Ukraine is on the verge of the largest interdenominational conflict in Europe.

Such messages are continued to be spread by Russian propaganda through pro-Russian resources. They say that in Ukraine there is a “catastrophic” situation with the church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Moreover, Russia initiated the convening of the UN Security Council allegedly because of the “harassment” of the Moscow Patriarchate Church, which it calls “the only canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine”.

At the same time, even before the beginning of the Security Council, the Moscow Patriarchate Church denied the request for help in protecting their rights. They say that they did not appeal to any state, especially to the one that carried out an armed attack on Ukraine.

Russian propaganda is systematically spreading messages that Ukraine is “destroying” the greatest religious denomination. Despite the fact that according to the results of the KMIS sociological survey, 72% of Ukrainians consider themselves Orthodox, and 54% identify themselves with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The propagandists also used reports of an attack on a priest in a church to promote the message and claimed that a church was set on fire in Volyn, the rector of which refused to go to the OCU.

Ukraine is a secular state that guarantees its citizens the freedom of worldview and religion. Russia is trying to use religion as a weapon against Ukrainians.

Social networks and anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels spread information that Ukrainians will allegedly canonize US President Joe Biden as a saint. Like, he made a huge contribution to the development of the state and helps in the fight against the aggressor. The authors of such messages add a screenshot, which depicts an alleged petition on the change.org website with a corresponding request to Epifanii, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine. However, this is not true.

First, there is no such petition on change.org. Consequently, the propagandists created a pseudo-petition with the help of a graphical editor. Secondly, this statement is baseless since the Orthodox Church of Ukraine cannot list the President of the United States as a saint. To do this, at a minimum, Biden needs to profess Orthodoxy.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegrams are spreading videos of church fires. Allegedly, a fire occurred in the Holy Ascension church in the village of Ovadne, Volodymyr district, Volyn region. They say that the church was set on fire, because in Ukraine there is a “struggle against Orthodoxy”, and the priest “refused to leave the Moscow Patriarchate”. It is not true.

Information about the fire was denied by both rescuers and local authorities. The fire was not registered in the regional department of the State emergency service. According to the head of the Ovadne community, Serhii Panasevych, the video does not show their church.

Fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Lier) project found out that this is a video of a fire in the church of St. Theodosius of Chernihiv in the village of Novooleksandrivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which occurred on January 19, 2021.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads messages about “harassment” and “discrimination” against the Moscow Patriarchate Church in Ukraine. Previously, reports of an attack on a priest in a temple were used to nourish this message. They also wrote that the transfer of churches from the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is “a struggle for influence on the minds of people”; allegedly Ukraine is “destroying” the greatest religious denomination; and that allegedly Ukraine needs to be “desatanized” and “deshaitanized”.

Such a message is distributed through social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that the liturgy was held in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra only with the participation of the military and the press. They say that other people did not want to participate in the liturgy, because they recognize only the Ukrainian church of Moscow Patriarchate. However, this is a lie.

As StopFake experts say, a number of media covering this historic event noted that the Christmas service gathered a huge number of believers. Various photos and videos of the Christmas liturgy show that there are not only journalists and military personnel in the church, but also just believers. The festive liturgy at the Lavra was also broadcast by national TV channels. On the broadcast, one could see who was in the temple during the service.

Propagandists spread this fake to convince everyone that the UOC is not popular among the Ukrainian population and that such a church is considered schismatic. That is, one that has separated from the real, canonical one.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are spreading the news about the attack on the priest of the Moscow Patriarchate Church in the Vinnytsia region and accusing the “politics” of Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the “tacit consent” of Ukrainian society with it.

Russian propaganda is using reports of an attack on Archpriest Antonii Kovtoniuk to promote a disinformation message about the “persecution” of the Moscow Patriarchate church in Ukraine. There is no official information about the motives of the attacker yet - an investigation is underway. Propagandists are trying to give greater significance and “systematicity" to a single crime, so they write about “attacks in temples”.

Such information appeared in the Russian-language media space. In particular, messages are distributed in anonymous telegram channels broadcasting a pro-Russian position. They say that a new group of radical Islamists went from northeast Syria to Ukraine to fight as mercenaries on the side of Kyiv. However, there is no evidence in the propagandists' reports to support such a claim. Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case.

Anonymous telegram channels write that all the finds of the Security service in Ukraine (SSU) allegedly have unambiguous signs of "staging". Like, it remains only to "find the cartridges". It seems that in fact all this is not a “cleansing” of pro-Russian elements and ideology, but a “struggle for influence on the minds of people”. Also, the alleged goal of the Ukrainian authorities is the redistribution of church property and an attempt to “lock up” all donations to the OCU (Orthodox Church in Ukraine).

Thus, propagandists are trying to shift the emphasis on protecting national sovereignty to the corruption of the Ukrainian authorities. In fact, using the phrase about “the struggle for influence on people’s minds”, the propaganda indirectly confirms that the Moscow Patriarchate Church influenced the parishioners. Russians use aggressive rhetoric to defend the Moscow Patriarchate church after searches.

They say that those people who were baptized in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate will now be forced to "re-baptize by a priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU)".

Like, in the churches they put up the appropriate announcements: “In connection with the recent events, all baptismal rites performed by the priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are being abolished. You can sign up for re-baptism at the priest’s of the OCU”.

Such "announcements" circulating on the net are fake and their content is not true. This was reported to StopFake journalists by the press service of the OCU.

Such practice of rebaptism in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is not approved and is not carried out. Since this is a big theological misconception, a violation of the canons and a serious sin”, the press service of the OCU said.

Re-baptism used to be practiced in the UOC-MP itself in relation to the believers of the Orthodox Churches of Ukraine (OCU), which are considered “schismatic” in the Moscow Patriarchate.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this in the context of checks and searches taking place in the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate. Like, the authorities are proposing a special law to ban the Moscow Patriarchate church, but for the sake of “decency” this is not indicated in the title. Allegedly, they found a way to “squeeze out” the Kyiv-Pechersk, Pochayiv and Sviatohorsk Lavra. They will also detain clergy and parishioners to replenish the exchange fund.

In fact, the reason for searches was a video filmed in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, where during the divine service on November 12 they glorified Russia. The Security service of Ukraine (SBU) opened criminal proceedings on the fact of "acquittal, recognition of lawfulness, denial of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, glorification of its participants". During the searches, law enforcement officers found pro-Russian literature, leaflets and other evidence. The investigation continues.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi indeed announced the preparation of a bill on the impossibility of operating religious organizations affiliated with Russia in Ukraine. However, this name indicates that Ukraine is protecting itself from the pro-Russian influence of any religious organization, and is not biased towards the Moscow Patriarchate Church.

У такий спосіб агітпроп використовує тактику підміни понять — приховує антиукраїнську риторику церкви Московського патріархату за звинуваченнями української влади у дискримінації за релігійною ознакою.

The Russian media are massively spreading information that Congressman Jamie Raskin allegedly called for the destruction of Russia because it is an Orthodox country with traditional values. And this is fake. Although it was not the Russian media that came up with it, but the American ones.

The fact that Raskin calls for a religious war against Russia, Orthodoxy and its traditional values, was said on the air of the FoxNews channel by host Tucker Carlson. And it was he who lied, since he is known for his commitment to Russia and has repeatedly disseminated manipulative theses. Here is the full text of Raskin's statement, but in short it sounds like this: Russia is the world center of corruption, totalitarianism, anti-feminism and violations of LGBT rights. At the same time, Ukraine is a democratic country that upholds the ideas of tolerance, human rights and freedoms. Therefore, it is clear to anyone, Democrat or Republican, why America should support Ukraine and do everything so that Russia loses this war.

They came up with a new goal for the so-called "special operation" in Russia. The "Kyiv regime" allegedly turned Ukraine into a "totalitarian hypersect" that professes "neo-paganism" as the basis of "radical nationalism." The assistant secretary of the Russian Security Council of the UN, Oleksiy Pavlov, also believes that the number of "satanic sects" in Ukraine is unknown. Still, the count "definitely runs into the hundreds." Instead, Ramzan Kadyrov announced the goal of "de-shaitanizing" Ukraine. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, every citizen of Ukraine has the right to freedom of worldview and religion. Ukrainians can practice any religion or not, participate freely in religious cults and ritual rites, and conduct religious activities. This right is limited by law only if religious beliefs affect the protection of the population's public order, health, and morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of other people. The church and religious organizations in Ukraine are separated from the state. Therefore, the Ukrainian authorities cannot influence the religious views of Ukrainians in any way.

According to the network of religious organizations report, as of January 1, 2021, several pagan currents were registered in Ukraine. These are 161 organizations, only 0.4% of the total number of religious organizations. Some researchers of religious currents consider Satanists to be a religious group of neo-pagan native believers, but it is only one of the scientific approaches. Primarily paganism and neo-paganism in Ukraine are associated with the return of people to ancient Slavic beliefs, which existed even in the days of Kyivan Rus and had nothing to do with the cult of Satan. Moreover, pagans considered themselves a light cult and were forbidden to perform dark rituals. Oleksiy Pavlov's references to religious beliefs, totalitarianism, and radical nationalism are an unsuccessful attempt to equate Ukraine with Nazi Germany.

Anonymous telegram channels and Russian media write about this. Allegedly, the Investigative Committee of Russia will open criminal proceedings on the arrest of teachers in the Kharkov region. The fake got into the Ukrainian information space because of the pro-Russian media and bloggers. They allegedly referred to a comment by Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk that the detainees would be tried under Article 483 of the Criminal Code (violation of the customs and laws of war). Like, the punishment for them provides for up to 12 years in prison and they are not subject to exchange, because they are not prisoners of war. Some telegram channels also hinted that not all teachers would live to see the trial. It is not true.

As journalist Iryna Romaliiska reported with reference to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Ukrainian police did not detain Russian teachers in the de-occupied territories of the Kharkiv region. Information about the detention was not confirmed in the office of the President of Ukraine. Subsequently, the Russian authorities denied the information about the detention of Russian teachers in Ukraine.

Most likely, this news was deliberately spread by pro-Russian resources in order to demonstrate the “ruthlessness” of the Ukrainian authorities, and subsequently its “absurdity”. This fake also echoes the Russian propaganda narrative about “Ukrainian Nazis.” Previously, fakes were spread that schoolchildren in the temporarily occupied part of the Kharkiv region were choosing Russian as the language of the studies process.