Website of Kyivan Patriarchate Attacked

At 11 a.m., on October 3, the website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (cerkva.info) became unreachable for users, reported the press service of the Kyivan Patriarchate.

“The provider closed access to the site and sent a notice with explanation of the reason, namely, that the site was broken. According to the regulations of the provider, in the event of a discovery of an attempt to unlawfully access the site, it is blocked to ensure safety. So, we have here a deliberate attack, which is confirmed by the provider. It is not a DDos-attack, it is an attempt to break the site,” said the head of the Information Department of the UOC-KP, Bishop Yevstratii (Zoria).

The bishop also said that steps are being made to renew the operation of the website.

Commenting on possible reasons for the attack, the spokesman of the Kyivan Patriarchate assumed that it is connected with the critical publications regarding the activity of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. “The website stopped to operate after the posting of the article 'Signal for the Patriarch' and its publication by RISU. Perhaps, it is just a coincidence.”

The bishop reminded that means to block or destroy websites which are not desirable for the Moscow Patriarchate were used in the past. “During the Local Council of the ROC and the election of Patriarch Kirill, Portal-Credo.ru did not operate. I will not be surprised if the attack against our website was launched by the same forces,” said Bishop Yevstratii.