Last August, the Ukrainian Presidency’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) launched a campaign to shut down all Russian Orthodox parishes outside of Russia, starting in Europe. EIR warned in early November that this Ukrainian agency—funded by the U.S. State Department, and now fully integrated into NATO’s psywar operations—was being deployed as a battering ram against freedom of religion, as well as against freedom of speech.
The campaign moved into high gear within days of the publication of EIR’s warning, kicked off in Sweden. The CCD reported on Nov. 11 that the Swedish Security Service had identified a Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in Västerås as a base for Russian intelligence, from which sabotage could also be launched, since it is located near critical infrastructure. The CCD cited an article published the same day by Politico.eu. But just days before, the Swedish Minister of Civil Defense, Carl-Oscar Bolin, had met at length with CCD head Andriy Kovalenko in Kyiv on Nov. 6, to coordinate “cognitive warfare” against Russia.
The CCD then proclaimed that the Kremlin has “weaponized religious structures … posing a direct threat to the security of other nations,” citing the CCD’s August 2024 dossier against the Russian Orthodox Church as a military operation.
