Another UOC (MP) hierarch was accused of supporting Russia

Information about important events and selected exclusive materials of Radio Svoboda for the past week are brought to your attention in this selection.

The SBU informed about the suspicion of the archimandrite of the UOC (MP) monastery in Kyiv

The Security Service of Ukraine reported the suspicion of a cleric of the UOC (MP) monastery, who is accused of justifying the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine. It is about the archimandrite of one of the men’s monasteries in Kyiv.

According to the investigation, the cleric used social networks to justify Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine and spread fakes about the socio-political situation in the country. The Security Service of Ukraine says that during searches of the suspect’s whereabouts in the premises of the UOC (MP) monastery, evidence of criminal acts was found, but they do not specify what kind of evidence it is.

Investigators of the Security Service informed the accused about the suspicion under part 2 of Art. 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (justification, recognition as legitimate, denial of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants). More information here

Priests promote “Russian peace” and accept as pioneers: how Russia uses the church in the occupation

The Russian Church is expanding its network in the occupied territories of Ukraine, the Center of National Resistance reported the other day. According to the underground, the church uses so-called volunteers of the patriarchal humanitarian mission. First of all, their main goal in Ukraine is to expand their agent network and ideological influence on Ukrainians under occupation, the Center for National Resistance noted.

The underground also noted that these “volunteers” began traveling to the occupied territories of Ukraine immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia. Priests are actively sent to the occupied territories to spread propaganda narratives among the local population and to support the morale of the Russian military, the National Resistance Center adds.

RFE/RL’s “News of Azov” project gathered more information about how Russia uses the church in the occupied territories. Text publication here

Zelensky arrived in the USA, where he will present the “Victory Plan of Ukraine”

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi arrived in the USA on September 22 to participate in events within the framework of the UN General Assembly.

“Ukraine will present the Victory Plan to the United States, and the President of America will be the first to see it in full. Of course, I will present the Victory Plan to all the leaders of the partner countries, who, like President Biden, are world leaders and can become leaders of peace by helping us with the Victory Plan. We will also present him in Congress – to both parties – and to both candidates for the presidency of the United States,” the president said in a video message on the plane en route to the United States.

Zalensky is scheduled to meet, in particular, with the current president, Joe Biden, and the candidates for the post of president of the United States, Camilla Harris and Donald Trump. More information here

Ukraine demonstrated the effectiveness of the “Victory Plan” by destroying thousands of tons of ammunition of the Russian army – mass media

Observers in the Western media associate Ukraine’s successful attack on Russian weapons depots with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s call for quick Western action regarding military support for Ukraine and a request to send more weapons as part of the “Victory Plan.”

“Zelensky hopes for quick action by the US in connection with new strikes on weapons depots in Russia,” writes the Associated Press agency. And British Ministry of Defense intelligence called Toropets in Russia’s Tver region “one of Russia’s largest strategic munitions depots directly supporting its operation in Ukraine” and said the strike likely caused “huge losses of munitions.”

British intelligence reminds that it is about an object 500 kilometers from Ukraine. More on that here

Next, briefly about what you might have missed:

“Shut up in Ukrainian”. How Russia selected the Ukrainian language from Donbas

It is dangerous to speak Ukrainian, to be Ukrainian is to cross out your future. For more than 300 years, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and modern Russia destroyed the Ukrainian language and the national identity of Ukrainians – and in Luhansk region and Donetsk region as well.

The fact that these regions allegedly “historically” spoke Russian and were “culturally closer” to Russia is a Kremlin myth, just like the “Donbas was bombed for 8 years”, only much older and more complicated.

At the end of the 19th century, the population of the current territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions was predominantly Ukrainian-speaking. This is evidenced by the 1897 census. A special project on this topic is available at the link

Since the beginning of the year, the language ombudsman of Ukraine has imposed 16 fines for violating the language law on the Internet

Taras Kremin, the state language protection commissioner, issued 49 warnings and applied 16 fines for violating the language law on the Internet since the beginning of 2024.

“Since the beginning of 2024, 421 complaints have been received regarding the violation of the sixth part of Article 27 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State”, which regulates the use of the state language on the Internet (which is almost 50% less than during this period in 2023) “, he wrote on Facebook.

According to his data, in 2024, based on citizens’ complaints, 161 measures of state control were initiated against business entities, which were managed to establish – most Internet resources at the time of state control measures eliminated violations of the language law. More information here

Dungeons, memes, “registry of fakes and pre-realities”. How the Kremlin’s disinformation contractor agency works

The German media Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR, and the Estonian online media Delfi received a leak of internal documents of the “Agency of Social Design” or “ASD” – an organization subject to sanctions in the EU and the US, which, according to American law enforcement officers, works on behalf of the administration of the President of the Russian Federation .

“Schemy” (Radio Liberty) in cooperation with a dozen European newsrooms investigated thousands of leaked files. As part of the “Fake Factory” project, journalists discovered that “ASD”, which is managed by Russian political technologist Ilya Gambashidze, uses disinformation to discredit Ukraine, its top leadership and citizens, as well as the leaders of Western countries who support it. At the same time, the agency promotes the interests of Russia and those European politicians who defend them.

At the beginning of September, some of the documents from this leak were published by American law enforcement officers in support of a request to seize the Internet domains of sites that link to “ASD”. Read about it here

“Drones of information warfare”. Modern tactics of the Russian Federation in spreading fake news (investigation)

Radio Liberty’s Balkan Service investigators have exposed a Russian disinformation campaign targeting four countries in the region, including Serbia.

The propaganda network quickly produces hundreds of news articles, often based on materials from Russian media banned in the EU.

How exactly does this network work? Read and watch about it by the link

Keep silent about Russia. What is wrong with the ICRC’s reaction to the death of its workers in Donbas and how it harms Ukraine

The Red Cross did not name the perpetrators of the attack on Virolyubivka near Chasovoy Yar, as a result of which three mission workers were killed, two were injured, and the humanitarian cargo was destroyed. The organization does not hide: it does not and will not do this – because this is how it sees its neutrality.

However, among many Ukrainians, the rhetoric of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) always causes indignation. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the world and international organizations should “react firmly and principledly”. And ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets called on the Red Cross to “officially and publicly recognize Russia’s violation of the norms of the Geneva Conventions.”

Who does such a reaction of the ICRC help, and who does it harm? Should Ukraine expect any actions from the organization, or is it time to look for other ways to solve the problem of Russia’s crimes and the protection of its citizens – military and civilian? Donbas Realia journalists (a Radio Liberty project) are investigating this problem. Read by the link

A metropolitan policeman lives in a 220-square-meter apartment of his mother-in-law, who officially earned 100 hryvnias during her lifetime

Taras Polienko, the deputy head of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Kyiv, lives in a two-level apartment in the capital’s residential complex with an area of ​​220 square meters, which belongs to his mother-in-law, who officially earned 100 hryvnias from 1998, and retired in 2014. This is reported by “Schemy” (Radio Liberty).

In a comment to journalists, Polienko noted that he did not know the “circumstances of the purchase” of the apartment, and his wife explained that her mother earned money by growing flowers, and, in addition, the family “had a Volga, which was comparable in value to a residential apartment in the city Kyiv”.

The policeman also declared that his wife received 7 million hryvnias as a gift from her grandmother, while her official income would not allow to explain such savings either. Read and watch here

“We will destroy the submarine, but later.” New goals of the special unit “Group 13” of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Naval drones are a Ukrainian invention that changed the format of warfare at sea. The Magura V5 drone is the main weapon at sea of ​​the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

In particular, the “Group 13” special unit has more than two dozen successful attacks on ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Among the Russian losses: missile boat “Ivanovets”, landing ship “Cesar Kunikov”, reconnaissance ship “Ivan Khurs”, high-speed boats “Tunets” and “RIF-75”. Special unit “Group 13” is called “hunters for Russian ships”.

Who are they? How do they track their goals and what goal do they dream of destroying right now? Text publication here

Ammunition hunger for a long time: why does the Armed Forces of Ukraine have nothing to replenish reserves for artillery?

In the third year of a full-scale war with Russia, Ukraine, despite the support of the main European states and the USA, experiences a constant shortage of ammunition for artillery.

RFE/RL’s “Donbas Realities” project investigated the causes of this deficit – why does it not disappear? How much ammunition does the Ukrainian army use at the front? And what problems do the Ukrainian military face due to low-quality shells? Text publication here

Publications that may interest you:

20th anniversary of the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko. A brief history of the use of poisons

20 years ago, in September 2004, it became known about the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko, then a candidate for the presidency of Ukraine. At first it was not clear what happened to him.

But soon the Austrian doctors to whom he turned declared that he had been poisoned by dioxin. Viktor Yushchenko himself said that he was poisoned during a dinner with the heads of the Ukrainian special services. At least, according to him, after that dinner he immediately felt sick. But the official investigation did not prove either this or the other version and reached a dead end.

Toxicologist Kostyantyn Kozlov told more about the history and present of poisons of Radio Liberty’s “Historical Freedom” project. Read, listen and watch by the link

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