The death of Filaret, the wreckage of the “Lancet” on Maidan, and the MP Marchenko trial. Weekly digest

This week, the Patriarch Emeritus of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Filaret died. The Russians attacked Kyiv with electric “Lancet” drones, which usually cannot reach the capital. The MP Lyudmyla Marchenko was sentenced to two years in prison by HACC for illegal assistance in traveling abroad.

Babel has compiled the main events of the week so that you can stay up to date with the news.

“Lancets” attack on Kyiv

On March 16, the Russians attacked Kyiv with drones. After the attack, wreckage of Russian electric drones "Lancet" was found on Independence Square. The occupiers use these drones for attacks on the front. They have a small ammunition supply and a range of up to 90 kilometers, so they could not reach the capital.

Adviser to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Serhiy “Flash” Beskrestnov later revealed the details of the attack. The invaders waited for a favorable wind towards the capital, removed the warhead from 40 “Lancets” and attached additional batteries.

The goal was to demonstrate the wreckage of this drone in Kyiv. Together with them, they launched “Shaheds”, to which they attached spare parts of the “Lancets”.

At such a long distance, the “Lancets” can be controlled at an altitude of 1.5 kilometers, but they cannot attack on the ground. Most of the drones were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses on their way to the capital, but a few flew through and left debris on Independence Square.

“Flash” suggests that such an attack was organized so that the drone manufacturer had a story for new purchases, or it was an information special operation.

Arrest of the SBU officials in corruption case

On Monday, March 16, SBU detained the deputy heads of the Rivne and Kyiv departments of the special service — Ihor Brik and Oleh Tokarchuk — as well as their alleged intermediary Andriy Avdievsky. The next day, they were informed of suspicion of bribery.

According to the investigation, they demanded more than $600 000 from the head of a monopoly company in the amber business to reclassify the case so that those involved would avoid liability. For this money, they also promised to "hang" charges on fake people and not create artificial obstacles during amber mining in the region.

Both organizers of the deal and their accomplice were caught red-handed while transferring over $270 000 in a restaurant in the Kyiv region. Smartphones were seized from the suspects during searches. They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

On March 18, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) sent Avdievsky and Brik to pre-trial detention center for two months with the alternative of bail of almost a million hryvnias (UAH), and released Tokarchuk on bail of UAH 998 400.

Ukraine received the final criteria for EU accession

On Tuesday, March 17, the Ukrainian delegation in Brussels received the criteria (benchmarks) for joining the European Union for the last three negotiation clusters.

These are clusters 3 “Competitiveness and Inclusive Development”, 4 “Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity” and 5 “Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion Policy”. The Cabinet of Ministers immediately sent the received document with the conditions to the Verkhovna Rada to work together on implementation.

In December, Ukraine received criteria for three other clusters:

• 1 “Fundamentals of the EU accession process”,
• 2 “Internal market,” and 6 “External relations”.

Ukraine now has a full package of conditions that must be met to join the EU.

However, negotiations on any of the clusters have not yet officially opened.

HACC of Ukraine sentenced the MP Marchenko and her assistant

On Thursday, March 19, the High Anti-Corruption Court sentenced the MP from the “Servant of the People” faction Lyudmyla Marchenko and her assistant Anastasia Kolesnyk to two years in prison for illegally assisting people in traveling abroad.

Marchenko was sentenced to two years in prison and a three-year ban on holding public office. Kolesnyk also received two years in prison and a three-year ban on work related to exit documents. They can appeal.

The investigation established that in 2023, the MP and her assistant received $5 300 for promising to help a man leave Ukraine and enter his data into the “Shlyakh” exit system and received permits from the Regional Military Administration.

The day before, they had already received $6 000 from another man of draft age. During the transfer of funds on July 7, 2023, Kolesnyk threw the money over the fence, but NABU and SAPO filmed it. On July 11, both women were informed of the suspicions.

After the publication of evidence of the offense, Lyudmila Marchenko was expelled from the “Servant of the People” party on July 12, 2023.

Patriarch Filaret has died

On Friday, March 20, Filaret — Patriarch Emeritus of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate — died. He was 97 years old.

Filaret has led the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC KP) since 1995. After the creation of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2018, he received the title of honorary patriarch, and the church was led by Metropolitan Epiphany.

But later Filaret and the remnants of the UOC KP claimed that the council, at which the decision to dissolve the UOC KP was made, was not valid.

Filaret accused Epiphanius and then-President Petro Poroshenko of failing to fulfill the agreements, liquidating the Kyiv Patriarchate, and said that although Epiphanius was to become the primate, it was Filaret who was to lead the church. The matter reached court. Then the Supreme Court refused to allow Filaret to declare the Local Council, during which the OCU was formed, invalid.

The farewell took place at the St. Michaelʼs Golden-Domed Monastery, and Filaret was buried on Sunday on the territory of the Volodymyr Cathedral, according to his spiritual will.

Archbishop Nikodym of Sumy and Okhtyrka was elected as the new patriarch of the UOC KP. In the message, Nikodym emphasized that the bishops will maintain the UOC KP as an independent institution and will not be part of any other church structures.

At the same time, Nikodym published a joint statement by the bishops of the UOC KP, in which they condemned the actions of the leadership of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. According to them, they “forcibly and godlessly took the body of His Holiness Patriarch Filaret from the hospital and transported him to St. Michaelʼs Cathedral for burial” against his will.

• In 1990, Filaret temporarily headed the Russian Orthodox Church after the death of Patriarch Pimen. He had a good chance of taking the patriarchal throne, but he lost the election and began to fight for the Ukrainian church. Read more about this in Babelʼs text about the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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