The SBU declared suspicion of 14 more Metropolitan of the ROC, who contributed to the occupation of Ukrainian territories

The Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General reported the suspicion of 14 high -ranking metropolitans of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), who helped the Kremlin in attempts to destroy Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Source: SBU, Office of Prosecutor General

Details: According to the investigation, from 2022 to 2024 the persons were part of the Kremlin -controlled “Holy Synod” of the ROC

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As the investigation established, from the beginning of the full -scale war, these Russian bishops, under the direction of Patriarch Gundyaev, contributed to the capture of religious communities in a temporarily occupied part of Ukraine.

They implemented the decisions of the Moscow Synod on the seizure of church property in Zaporizhzhya, Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson regions and Crimea.

In particular, under their leadership of Dzhankoy, Berdyansk, Rovenkiv and Kherson dioceses were forcibly “included” in the ROC. After that, they appointed the bishops controlled by Moscow, who promoted the Kremlin narratives, blessed Russia’s war against Ukraine and justified the actions of the invaders.

Among the suspects – Metropolitan and Archbishops from different regions of the Russian Federation, in particular:

• Oleksandr Snigur (Artemy), Metropolitan Khabarovsky and Amaur;
• Mikhail Kondratiev (Methodius), Bishop Kamyansky and Kamyshilovsky;
• Vitaliy Yermakov (Ambrose), Metropolitan Tver and Kashinsky;
• Leonid Gorbachev, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa;
• Andriy Malakhanov, Archbishop Petropavlovsky and Kamchatsky;
• Petro Mansurov (Petro), Bishop Kalachinsky and Muromtsevsky;
• Nikolai Cepitsky (Lev), Metropolitan of Novgorod and Old Russian;
• Yuri Epifanov (Arseniy), Metropolitan Lipetsky and Zadonsky;
• Mikhail Konechny (Cyril), Metropolitan of Kazansky and Tatarstan;
• Alexei Kryvenko (Nicholas), Bishop of North Baykalsky and Sosnovo-Ozersky;
• Valery Golubev (Ilya), Archbishop Anadyrsky and Chukotsky;
• Jan Kaygorodtsev (Hilarion), Bishop of Kinezhemsky and Palekhsky;
• Ilya Pyrov (Tarasiy), Bishop of North Sea and Umba;
• Oleksandr Taranov (Arkady), Archbishop Rvenkovsky and Sverdlovsky.

On the basis of the evidence collected, all 14 defendants were informed in absentia of suspicion under Part 5 of Art. 27, Part 3 of Art. 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (aiding or her intentional actions in order to change the boundaries of the territory or state border of Ukraine, in violation of the procedure established by the Constitution of Ukraine, according to a prior conspiracy by a group of persons who led to other grave consequences).

Comprehensive measures are currently underway to hold the attackers responsible for crimes against our country.