UKRAINE: Pro-Russian cleric prosecuted on charges of treason
Statement published by the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Facebook (22.03.2024) – Prosecutors of the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor’s Office brought to court the indictment against the Archimandrite of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church UOC (MP), who before the liberation of Kherson was the rector of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kherson Diocese, on the facts of treason and aiding the aggressor state (Part 2 of Art. 111, Part 1 of Art. 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
In addition, his property was seized within the framework of criminal proceedings. Among the said real estate objects is an apartment in the Pechersk district of Kyiv, a residential building in the Kherson region, as well as a vehicle.
According to the investigation, the Archimandrite provided ideological support to the Russian Federation during the occupation of Kherson region. In his sermons, he praised representatives of the occupation regime and personally started before the self-proclaimed authorities to transfer premises and property taken from Ukrainian citizens and private joint-stock companies to serve the cathedral.
In addition, on September 30, 2022, the clergyman joined the celebrations in the St. George’s Hall of the Kremlin on the occasion of the so-called accession of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, which showed his support for the illegal annexation of the territories of Ukraine.
A few days before the liberation of Kherson, the abbot fled to the temporarily occupied territory.
Since December 2022, he has been under sanctions by the NSDC (National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine).
The pre-trial investigation in this proceedings was carried out by investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine in Chernivtsi region with the operational support of the Office of the SBU of Ukraine in the Kherson region.