"There's this storyline that says that the Moscow Patriarchate is the proper one and that Zelensky and the Ukrainian church leaders are persecuting Christians. It's nuts... But I hear that from time to time from people," Mike Pompeo said in a conversation with the Russian pranksters, Vovan and Lexus, who pretended to be former Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko.

"WE need to force the Moscow Patriarchate out of Ukraine... WE need to get the charge under OUR new Orthodox church," Pompeo concluded.

“St. Petersburg – Kaliningrad is [Russia’s] key track now, that’s where Russian warships are built. It is the main artery of Russia’s part of the Baltic Sea,” Dandykin said, stressing the gulf’s significance.

“I don't believe any of it will be approved by NATO, since NATO is not currently ready for a clash with Russia,” the expert said.

“This is blocking a country’s access [to the gulf]. It's not blowing up the Nord Streams, but something much more dangerous,” Dandykin warned. “In the grand scheme of things, the move will aggravate the situation.”

"The organization claims that Bogdanov violated media access rules, but no specific violations allegedly committed by the journalist were mentioned," it said.

"He rushed at us, and later other representatives joined him. I’m not sure whether they were diplomats or journalists. They didn’t allow us to participate in the press conference... Physical interference is a blatant violation under any law. Touching or pushing people is unacceptable and carries penalties," Bogdanov said, recounting the interaction with Berbock's staff.