Their men serve in AFU: MP accuses UOC female believers abroad of espionage

Mykola Kniazhytskyi. Photo: Kniazhytskyi’s YouTube channel

March 12, 2025 – Mykola Kniazhytskyi, a member of parliament from Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party, released a video titled “The Moscow Patriarchate After the Ban: Where Were They Sheltered?”, in which he accused Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) priests and parishioners in the diaspora of engaging in “enemy propaganda” and even espionage.

He expressed outrage that UOC communities abroad sing Christmas carols and organize nativity plays, claiming that they are merely “masquerading as loyal Ukrainians”.

Kniazhytskyi was also angered by the work of UOC priests in the Diaspora with Ukrainian children in schools, as well as with wounded soldiers undergoing rehabilitation in the EU.

He suggested that UOC communities “serve as spy cells”. The reason, in his view, is that the husbands of some parishioners are fighting on the front lines.

"Among Ukrainian refugees, there are many women whose husbands are fighting at the front, which means they may possess sensitive information crucial to national security," Kniazhytskyi stated. He called for “active state intervention, not just specific counterintelligence measures.”

While praising the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) for its pressure on the UOC, he criticized other government bodies for not taking more action.

"Why, for example, are Moscow Patriarchate priests allowed to travel abroad, where they engage in hostile propaganda? Why aren’t our diplomatic institutions acting more proactively, engaging with European authorities and security agencies to demand oversight of such activities?" Kniazhytskyi asked.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk had called on Ukrainian authorities to combat UOC communities abroad.

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