SBU exposes 33 Russian assets operating under guise of religious clerics.

The Security Service of Ukraine realizes all possible threats of hostile influence in the operations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, therefore the agency is thoroughly working to counter such threats.

That’s according to the acting chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Vasyl Maliuk, who spoke in an interview with Interfax, Ukrinform reports.

"If we take the period since the beginning of the war, we have opened 23 criminal proceedings targeting such figures. We already have 33 suspects charged – from classic human assets gathering in-depth intelligence to average fire spotters sporting cassocks," he said.

According to the head of the Ukrainian special service, this environment is an ideal field for the functioning of the enemy HUMINT network leaders. "That's why we’re doing some quality work in this direction," the security chief assured.

Read also: Religion can't be used to justify war - Pope Francis

Maliuk recalled the detention of a "cleric" in Vinnytsia region, "who is (Russian APatriarch Kirill – ed.) Gundyaev's university groupmate and who had been in constant contact with the FSB."

"Compromising materials, in particular correspondence in chat messengers, have been revealed," added the acting head of the SBU.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, law enforcement operatives in Donetsk region pressed collaborationism charges against the rector of the Kazan parish in the village of Yarova, which is part of the Horlivka diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).