The abbot of the Sviatohirska Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church ( UOC MP) Metropolitan Arseny was arrested on suspicion of spreading information about the location of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
The Donetsk regional prosecutorʼs office and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) write about this.
He was sent to custody without bail.
According to the investigation, in September 2023, during his sermon, the abbot told the faithful about the locations of roadblocks, as well as units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the National Police, and the Defense Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the Sviatohirsk community.
Subsequently, this video was published on the website of the Lavra and in the local group of the Telegram channel. The Security Service of Ukraine claims that in this way the cleric tried to reveal to the Russians the locations of Ukrainian checkpoints in the frontline area.
In addition, the metropolitan expressed pro-Kremlin narratives even before the start of the full-scale invasion. In particular, in an interview, he called the armed aggression of the Russian Federation a "civil conflict."
The Metropolitan was informed of the suspicion under Part 2 of Art. 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (dissemination of information about the movement, movement or location of the Armed Forces). The maximum penalty is 8 years of imprisonment.