Ukrainian law enforcement officers find pro-Russian literature when searching Ukrainian Orthodox Church establishments - media

MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Searches of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the Koretsky Monastery and the Sarnenskaya-Polesskaya diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Rovno region yielded pro-Russian literature, Ukrainian media reported on Wednesday.

According to the reports, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in collaboration with the national police and the national guard searched 350 church buildings and 850 people. More than 50 people were subjected to in-depth counterintelligence interrogations, including using a polygraph test. Among them were not only citizens of Ukraine, but also foreigners, in particular, citizens of Russia. Some people showed passports and military registration cards of the USSR, did not have documents, or showed passports of citizens of Ukraine "with indications of forgery or damage."

According to media reports, the searches yielded "pro-Russian literature" that is used in instruction in seminaries and parish schools and, in the opinion of law enforcement officials, contains "Russian world" propaganda. The searches also yielded more than two million hryvni, more than $100,000 and several thousand Russian rubles.