https://sputnikglobe.com/20260112/uk-intelligence-backs-campaign-against-russian-orthodoxy---russian-svr-1123452634.html

British Spies Back Schism in Orthodox Church – Russian Foreign Intel

Sputnik International

British intelligence agencies are actively supporting efforts by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to weaken the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, expanding a strategy first applied in Ukraine to the Baltics and Eastern Europe, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) says.

2026-01-12T11:36+0000

2026-01-12T12:08+0000

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Key points:Church insiders told the SVR the scheme could destroy the unity of global Orthodoxy.

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british intelligence agencies, russian orthodox church abroad, uk intelligence backs campaign against russian orthodoxy

British Spies Back Schism in Orthodox Church – Russian Foreign Intel

11:36 GMT 12.01.2026 (Updated: 12:08 GMT 12.01.2026)

© Sputnik / Sergey Pyatakov / Go to the mediabankMonument "Reunion" was opened at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The sculptural composition is dedicated to a historical event - the reunification of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR), which took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on May 17, 2007.

Monument Reunion was opened at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The sculptural composition is dedicated to a historical event - the reunification of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR), which took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on May 17, 2007. - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.01.2026

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British intelligence services are supporting the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in weaken the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) says.

Key points:

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople seeks to replace Moscow-linked churches in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with those loyal to his sect, working with the Baltic governments

The plan involves drawing clergy and congregations away from the Moscow Patriarchate into newly created Constantinople-backed bodies

British intelligence services are encouraging and aiding the plan while fueling anti-Russian sentiment across Europe

Constantinople plans to grant autocephaly to the unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church in a direct challenge to the Serbian Orthodox Church

Church insiders told the SVR the scheme could destroy the unity of global Orthodoxy.