Campaign of Harassment Against UOC Believers in Lviv

Campaign of Harassment and Hunting of UOC Believers in Lviv by Journalists

The Lviv television channel NTA organized surveillance of Orthodox believers, disclosed the addresses of private apartments where religious services are held, and called parishioners "potential killers" and "FSB agents."

On October 5, 2025, the channel aired a segment titled "De u Lvovi dosi molyatsya za putina i patriarkha kyryla? | Moskovskyi patriarkhat u pidpilli" ("Where in Lviv Are People Still Praying for Putin and Patriarch Kirill? | The Moscow Patriarchate Underground").

NTA journalists, led by Nadiia Kovalchyk, admitted that they had been surveilling priest Volodymyr Sharabura, rector of the UOC Holy Trinity Church closed by the authorities, for an entire year. The film crew made repeated trips to the church, monitored the priest's movements, and then followed him to a residential building on Snopkivska Street.

The journalists entered the building's stairwell and conducted covert filming of believers arriving for the service. The film crew made no attempt to conceal that their goal was to "document how supporters of the Moscow church gather for the service."

In the segment, NTA journalists disclosed two specific apartment addresses where UOC believers gather for prayer: on Snopkivska Street and Dashky Street. They followed the priest and parishioners, conducted both covert and open filming of people entering the apartment, and attempted to capture their faces on camera.

In addition, the segment mentions other alleged places of worship — in Velyki Kryvchytsi, in the area of Vyhovskoho Street, Lyubinska Street, in Sykhiv, and on Pasichna Street — but does not provide specific addresses for these locations.

The segment levels the following accusations against UOC believers:

1. Deliberately inciting hatred, the journalists linked the murder of Ukrainian political figure Andrii Parubiy to Orthodox Christians.
   "In these premises, potential new killers of new Parubiys are gathering. As the investigation into Parubiy's killer Selnikov shows, he was carrying out his anti-Ukrainian rhetoric while in Lviv. He may have even had some connection there to the Moscow Patriarchate."
   

2. The journalists called the clergyman a "Russian agent."
   "The so-called priest, or rather Russian agent, turned out to be Serhii Reznikov."
   

3. Furthermore, the journalists labeled all UOC clergy "FSB agents" and claimed they "recruit parishioners."
   "FSB agents in cassocks recruit parishioners."
   

4. UOC parishioners, who are forced to pray in their own apartments, were called an army of "saboteurs" by the journalists.
   "This is already a ready-made army of saboteurs."

When the owner of the apartment on Dashky Street attempted to defend his rights, stating: "You cannot film without my consent," the journalists ignored his demands.

The film crew continued its work despite protests from the residents.

NTA journalists acknowledged in their segment: "In the course of working on this program, we uncovered only two underground hotbeds of the Moscow Patriarchate."

At the same time, they assert that there are "significantly more" such locations in operation, effectively calling for the continuation of the hunt for believers.

(Source: NTA Television Channel)