according to the august 2018 report by the associated press, fancy bear had been for years targeting the email correspondence of the officials of the ecumenical patriarchate of constantinople headed by the ecumenical patriarch bartholomew i. the publication appeared at a time of heightened tensions between the ecumenical patriarchate, the seniormost of all the eastern orthodox churches, and the russian orthodox church (the moscow patriarchate) over the issue of the full ecclesiastical independence (autocephaly) for the orthodox church in ukraine, sought after by the ukrainian government. the publication cited experts as saying that the grant of autocephaly to the church in ukraine would erode the power and prestige of the moscow patriarchate and would undermine its claims of transnational jurisdiction. cyber attacks also targeted orthodox christians in other countries as well as muslims, jews and catholics in the united states, ummah, an umbrella group for ukrainian muslims, the papal nuncio in kiev and yosyp zisels, who directs ukraine's association of jewish organizations and communities.