“According to the SBU, among those involved are 27 high church officials: metropolitans and archbishops, who are suspected of working for the Russian Federation”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
As reported by the department’s press service, since 2022, 208 criminal proceedings have been initiated regarding anti-Ukrainian activities and other crimes by representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP), among those involved are 27 high-ranking church officials: metropolitans and archbishops, who are suspected of working for the Russian Federation.
“The exposed clerics were carrying out the tasks of the Russian special services with the aim of destabilizing the socio-political situation in Ukraine. For this, the bishops used religious communities, where they recruited the faithful to the Russian intelligence apparatus, justified the war crimes of the Rashists and called for the seizure of our state,” the message reads.
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Also, according to the law enforcement officers, some clerics are involved in the corruption of minors, the distribution of child pornography, and the organization of “evasive schemes.”
In total, according to the materials of the Security Service, 78 figures-representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) have already been suspected of committing crimes, another 40 clergymen have already been sentenced to prison terms, in particular, four bishops who are in charge of dioceses in different regions of Ukraine have been sentenced, the special service adds.
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The SBU also claims that on its initiative the Ukrainian citizenship of 19 clerics of the UOC (MP) holding Russian passports was revoked and temporary residence permits in Ukraine were revoked. In particular, the Ukrainian citizenship of Orest Berezovsky, who is better known as the head of the UOC (MP) Onufriy, was terminated.
In May, Ukraine began an investigation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (together with the Moscow Patriarchate) for ties to Russia. Then the nine-month term, which was set aside by the law for the church to prove the absence of ties with Russia, expired.
Currently, the court is considering the case on the termination of the activities of the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
In 2023, a religious examination of the statute of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) showed the presence of a church-canonical connection with the Russian Orthodox Church, the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience reported. The service says that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church continues to be subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) called this religious examination “illegal and conducted in violation of the law and beyond the scope of its research.”