A priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) in Luhansk region was sentenced to 12 years in prison for informing the enemy about the positions of the Ukrainian military.
This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office (PGO).
The prosecutors proved that the priest of the church from Lysychansk provided assistance in the conduct of hostilities by the armed formations of Russia against the Ukrainian army.
From mid-April 2022, he collected information on the number and location of the equipment and weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Severodonetsk and the settlements adjacent to the city. He transmitted these data to representatives of the aggressorʼs army through a messenger.
The enemy used the information received to locate and strike targets. "A supporter of Russian peace was exposed and detained at the end of April 2022. While documenting the crime, the law enforcement officers discovered correspondence between the clergyman and representatives of the enemyʼs armed forces," the message reads.
- At the end of November, the SSU conducted a number of searches in churches, monasteries and laurels of the UOC MP, in particular in Kyiv-Pechersk. The series of searches began after a scandal over a prayer service in Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, during which parishioners sang the song "The bell is ringing, itʼs ringing over Russia. Mother Russia is waking up." The priest was informed of suspicion for this.
- Subsequently, the SSU conducted searches in monasteries in Transcarpathia, in the Mukachevo diocese, in the Ivano-Frankivsk diocese, in the Pochaiv seminary, and in the Ternopil diocese. During the searches, numerous evidences of pro-Russian propaganda and probable cooperation of representatives of the UOC MP with Russia were found.
- On December 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine instructed the government to submit to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law banning the activities of religious organizations affiliated with Russia in Ukraine. First of all, this will affect the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.