The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) exposed one of the organizers of the pro-Kremlin provocations in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which took place in March 2023. He was informed of suspicion for justifying Russiaʼs armed aggression against Ukraine (Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code).
The investigation claims that the religious blogger conducted anti-Ukrainian activities and spread pro-Russian narratives, as well as organized commissioned "protest actions" near the Lavra, incited people and gave interviews where he accused Ukraine of starting the war. At the same time, the blogger broadcast his performances on the YouTube channel "Holy Rus" with 23 thousand subscribers.
According to the SBU, after the start of the full-scale war, the figure publicly supported the Russian occupiers and justified the occupation of Ukrainian territories. At home, he kept prohibited symbols and books of radical nationalist structures of Russia.
The man holds the post of deputy head of the pro-Russian organization "Edynoe otechestvo" ["United Motherland"] and is a member of the religio-political organization of the ROC "Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods of Ukraine".
Now he faces up to eight years in prison.
- On April 23, the SBU informed the abbot of the menʼs monastery of Saint Sava the Consecrated in the temporarily occupied Melitopol about the suspicion. After the capture of the city, Archimandrite Ioann (real name: Oleksandr Prokopenko) was one of the first to support the Russian invaders and called on local residents to help the invaders.
- The day before, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police exposed the abbot of the Holy Ascension Menʼs Monastery of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the UOC MP. He was informed about the suspicion. A cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was also exposed, who was informed of suspicion for justifying Russian aggression in the media.
- And on May 11, the court announced the sentence to the ex-leader of the Kirovohrad Diocese of the UOC MP and his secretary for inciting religious enmity and hatred. They were sentenced to three years of imprisonment with a two-year probationary period, as well as a year without the right to hold leadership positions in religious organizations.