Cleric charged in Ukraine over helping Russia locate targets for strikes

The Security Service of Ukraine pressed charges against Metropolitan Arseniy, the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate) over what is believed was subversive efforts benefitting Russian invaders.

That’s according to the SBU press service, Ukrinform reports.

The inquiry gathered evidence that the priest would tip the invaders on the locations of Defense Forces’ checkpoints in Donetsk region’s Kramatorsk district.

"It happened during a liturgy. The vicar gave parishioners the addresses of checkpoints manned by Ukrainian troops, and that was recorded on video. That clip was then posted on the Lavra website and a local chat on Telegram. In this way, the cleric tried to mask his effort aimed at exposing before the aggressor the location of Ukrainian military checkpoints in the frontline area," the statement says.

According to the inquiry, even prior to the full-scale invasion, the metropolitan had publicly shared pro-Kremlin narratives about the war in Ukraine.

This is evidenced by the vicar's repeated interviews, in which he referred to Russia’s armed aggression as a "civil conflict."

Based on the evidence collected, the detectives pressed charges against the metropolitan under Art. 114-2 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (publicly sharing data on the location and movement of the armed forces’ units).

The court is yet to decide whether to remand the suspect in custody pending trial.

The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime. The suspect will face up to eight years in prison if found guilty in court.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, another UOC (MP) abbot was exposed in Khmelnytskyi region. He had been praising Russian President Vladimir Putin in front of parishioners.