What's going on in Belgium lately?
A network of Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) centers, which masquerade as "Ukrainian churches", working with refugees, has been exposed in Belgium.
Journalists
Liga.net discovered that some of these "temples" operate in ordinary residential buildings and have the status of non-profit organizations - this allows them to receive state subsidies, despite their subordination to Moscow.
During services, visitors' contacts are collected, supposedly for assistance or mailings. In fact, these data can be used for further recruitment.
Some priests rent premises and invite Ukrainians under the guise of a "Ukrainian church".
According to intelligence data, up to 90% of new parishes in Europe are financed by the pro-Russian oligarch Vadim Novinsky.
At the same time, in Belgium, such centers are considered purely religious, which complicates the response.
An additional factor is the Orthodox Church of Ukraine does not have the right to establish parishes abroad, which creates a vacuum that the ROC fills.