An attack on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was launched by the press office of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), accusing him of his policy regarding Ukraine and also claiming that he is supported by a Western intelligence service.

The SVR, as reported by TASS, claims in a statement that British intelligence services actively support the activities of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

The report echoes a dispute that has been ongoing for years between Constantinople and the Moscow Patriarchate, also concerning the autocephaly granted to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a move that enraged Moscow.

“British intelligence services actively support him, fueling Russophobic sentiments in European countries,” the SVR said, adding that Mr. Bartholomew “found common ground with the authorities of the Baltic states in an effort to sow discord in the Russian Orthodox world.”

“The Ecumenical Patriarch relies on his ideological allies, represented by local nationalists and neo-Nazis, in an attempt to detach the Orthodox Churches of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia from the Moscow Patriarchate, luring their priests and faithful into artificial religious structures created by Constantinople.”

Meanwhile, the press office noted that the Ecumenical Patriarch intends to grant autocephaly to the unrecognized Orthodox Church of Montenegro in order to strike at the Serbian Orthodox Church.

It even attributes to Mr. Bartholomew an “aggressive disposition” that “is not limited to Ukraine and the Baltic countries.”

They speak of a “insidious spirit” on the part of the Patriarch that “is gradually spreading to the countries of Eastern Europe. In order to launch a campaign of suppression against the ‘particularly persistent’ Serbian Orthodox Church, he intends to grant autocephaly to the unrecognized Orthodox Church of Montenegro,” the SVR emphasized.

In its statement, the SVR further notes that “in church circles it is observed that Bartholomew is literally dismantling the living Body of the Church. In this way, he acts like the false prophets described in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.’”