Following the SSU investigation, a citizen of Ukraine was sentenced to 7 years in prison for an attempted arson of a temple in Zaporizhzhia in 2019. The criminal activity was coordinated by ‘special services’ of the so-called DNR with the aim to destabilize the situation in the region.

Militants of the so-called DNR tried to provoke a religious conflict on the eve of granting of the Tomos to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

For UAH 30,000 (USD 1100) reward, a resident of Zaporizhzhia agreed to commit an arson of John the Apostle Church that belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Moreover, the offender was tasked to post a video of the arson that would be interpreted in the media as an attack on the local church community by the laity of the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The SSU detained the organizer of the crime and his accomplices red-handed while trying to commit the arson.

The court found the organizer of the arson guilty of an attempted terrorist attack and sentenced him to 7 years in prison. The verdict came into force.

The SSU Office in Zaporizhzhia region conducted the operation and investigation under the supervision of Zaporizhzhia Region Prosecutor’s Office.