Based on the results of a search in the Chernivtsi-Bukovina diocese, the SBU opened criminal proceedings under the article “high treason”, the structure’s press service reported.

According to the department, as a result of investigative actions, the security forces found documents confirming the presence of Russian citizenship among the leadership of the diocesan structure.

“The correspondence of the leaders of the diocese with their Moscow curators has also been exposed, in which they receive “manuals” on the specifics of holding church liturgies after a full-scale invasion,” the report says.

The SBU stated that “within the framework of the criminal proceedings initiated by the investigators of the Security Service under Part 2 of Art.  111 (high treason) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, legal proceedings are ongoing.”