Information War in the Religious Sphere in the Context of the "Battle" for the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

Authors

Bogdan Synchak, Ukrainian Institute of Arts and SciencesFollow
Yurii Yelisovenko, Taras Shevchenko National University of KyivFollow
Svitlana Romanchuk, Ukrainian Institute of Arts and SciencesFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

Bohdan Synchak: 0000-0002-8186-5692

Yurii Yelisovenko: 0000-0002-5334-1920

Svitlana Romanchuk: 0000-0002-5737-2951

Abstract

The study examines the issue of non-religious activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in the context of its involvement in the information war within the sphere of religion. It is based on a significant precedent for Ukrainian Orthodoxy concerning the expiration and non-extension of the contract by the Ministry of Culture with the UOC-MP for operation on the premises of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the architectural complex of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Certain prerequisites for depriving the UOC-MP of the right to use the premises of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra are presented and analyzed. Separate photographs with materials of a frankly pro-Russian nature from the searches of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the Lavra and the churches of the UOC-MP in the Rivne region are given. A detailed definition of the context of propaganda messages, their significance, and the destructive consequences on Ukrainian society are given. The generalized possible factors contributing to the decision to deprive the UOC-MP of the rights to use the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra are determined. In the context of considering the extra- religious activities of the UOC-MP, the article mentions recently declassified archival documents on the cooperation of the Orthodox Church with the Soviet special services, which are stored in the archives of the “Security Service of Ukraine” (SBU) but are still classified in Russia. The work of the SBU and other law enforcement agencies to identify intruders in cassocks in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is comprehensively described.

Recommended Citation

Synchak, Bogdan; Yelisovenko, Yurii; and Romanchuk, Svitlana (2023) "Information War in the Religious Sphere in the Context of the "Battle" for the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 43 : Iss. 7 , Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2148.2464
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol43/iss7/7