Former host of "Berdyansk" TV, Yulia Vachenkova, who has been working with Russian occupiers since June 2022 and filming propaganda stories, is stirring up religious hostility.
Her story about the Berdyansk Catholic church was posted on April 20 on the pro-Russian Telegram channel "Berdiansk.Actualno", according to the website of the Mass Media Institute.
In the post accompanying the story, it is stated that "the servants of the Catholic Church in Berdyansk fled, leaving the parishioners without a shepherd. It turns out that there was a dark side to the church's activities." In the video, the propagandist says that the Catholic church "symbolically opposes the Orthodox church and the eternal flame", which is "a symbol of our victory in the Great Patriotic War."
She goes on to talk about how the head of the church "abandoned everyone who believed in him," along with the charitable foundation "Caritas-Spes Berdyansk," which for many years "converted everyone to Catholicism." She also argues that investigators "discovered facts about the use of personal data and even biological material." However, Vachenkova does not provide any details about the "biological material." The only confirmation of the author's words on the screen were some shelves with books and files for documents.
Also, in the story, the propagandist, "lifting the veil of secrecy", said with "high probability" that "the church ... provided shelter to Ukrainian military saboteurs", and "was friendly to Greek Catholics who hid weapons and explosives in the cache".
In addition, according to the story, books were found in the church that "openly called for the overthrow of the state system back in the days of Yanukovych." In support of this, the theological collection in Polish, "The Merciful Love of God. Response to Human Sin". As IMI found out, this is a set of cassettes with sermons by priests with the titles "God's Mercy as a Sign of Our Time," "The Sacrament of Reconciliation through Healing," "Jesus Forgives Sinners," and so on.
Also, in the story, a CD titled "Volume Collection of World Hits" was shown as evidence of "subversive activities" by representatives of the Catholic Church.
At the end of the story, Yulia Vachenkova reported that investigators "found strange objects in this Gothic world, like from a horror movie, which were used for initiation (but it is not reported who and what kind of initiation - Ed.), torchlight processions and other occult rituals." In support of the journalist's words, the video showed a room in which the clergy's vestments for services were visible, as well as a large icon depicting Jesus Christ.
The propagandist concludes her report by saying that "for many years, these false brothers, having cunningly penetrated the Orthodox country and, in particular, the city of Berdiansk... have been conducting large-scale subversive activities."
We will add that Vachenkova's first story appeared in the telegram channel "Berdiansk.Actualno" on June 30, 2022. It was dedicated to the humanitarian aid that "refugees from Mariupol" received "from friendly Dagestan". After that, Vachenkova's stories were published only on this telegram channel. In particular, the story about the visit of Russian media to Berdiansk to make sure that "everything is fine" in the occupied city. This is exactly what she clarified "as a colleague to a colleague" with propaganda journalist Vitaly Kadchenko from Russia's Channel One.
According to Prymorka.City, in an interview with journalists, Yulia Vachenkova once said: "You need to be honest with yourself. All power lies in the truth."
As reported, in 2022, the Russian occupiers kidnapped and are hiding UGCC priests from Berdiansk, Fr Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Haleta.