The Russian Orthodox Church called the GUR's plans to assassinate Metropolitan Tikhon terrifying.

The plans of the Ukrainian special services that attempted to assassinate Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Simferopol and Crimea are horrifying and are a continuation of the authorities' struggle Ukraine with canonical Orthodoxy. This was announced on February 28 by Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy head of the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Church-Society Relations and the Media.

"On the one hand, the plans of the Ukrainian special services are terrifying, which the professional efforts of our law enforcement officers failed to come true. On the other hand, is it any wonder that they are trying to do the same thing as in Ukraine — to destroy the church? God—fighting is what motivates those who try to kill and persecute clerics," he said in his Telegram channel.

Kipshidze noted that such militant atheism has always been nothing but madness. Therefore, the current events will sooner or later be evaluated by the court of history.

He pointed out that the special services of Ukraine attempted a terrorist attack against Metropolitan Tikhon at a time when there were prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.

The FSB of the Russian Federation reported on the prevention of a terrorist attack against Metropolitan Tikhon earlier in the day. It was clarified that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR MOU) recruited a Ukrainian and a Russian through the Telegram messenger to prepare for the crime. A criminal case has been opened against them under Article 30 ("Preparation for a crime or attempted crime." — Ed.), Part 2 of Article 205 ("Preparation of a terrorist act") and Part 4 of Article 222.1 ("Illegal trafficking of explosive devices committed by an organized group") of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In a wooded area a cache was found in the area, where an electronic device with information about terrorist plans was stored in a plastic container, as well as envelopes with two Ukrainian passports containing photos of suspects and fake names. After the implementation of their plans, they planned to hide abroad.