The Union of Ukrainians in Portugal won a court case initiated by Russian propagandists – the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate branch in Albufeira.
“The issue stems from the outset of the widespread aggression, where Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructed its agents abroad to initiate cases against Ukrainian activists. Later, they issued a document titled ‘On Violations of Rights of Russian Citizens and Compatriots in Foreign Countries,’ specifically mentioning the ‘Union of Ukrainians in Portugal,'” reported Pavlo Sadokha, Vice-President of the Ukrainian World Congress and President of the Union of Ukrainians in Portugal.
“With the onset of the major war, Russia changed tactics in influencing Western societies,” Sadokha said. “At one point, pro-Russian organizations changed their stance and began actively collecting humanitarian aid and accepting refugees from Ukraine. This hybrid activity did have (and unfortunately still has) a certain effect, misleading societies where the true reasons behind Russian aggression still need clarification. Particularly, there were no grounds for a ‘civil war,’ as presented by Russian propagandists and their supporters in Ukraine, but rather a clearly planned Russian strategy to dismantle Ukrainian statehood,” Sadokha explained.
Russians utilize the church as one of the instruments of destructive influence. “It’s fortunate that the court in Algarve unraveled this complex situation and delivered a just decision,” Sadokha emphasized.
In May, unknown individuals disrupted a pro-Ukrainian event in Porto. Incidents of vandalism against pro-Ukrainian locations have also been repeatedly documented in Portugal.
In March, the Russian People’s Council, an organization under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church, declared the full-scale invasion of Ukraine a “holy war”. The so-called “decree” was approved under the leadership of Moscow Patriarch Kirill.
Cover: Pavlo Sadokha on Facebook
