Sviatohirsk murder no one is allowed to talk about
Logic suggests that Zelensky was informed about the monk’s murder that very day.
On the ninth day after the murder of Monk Varsonofiy at the Sviatohirsk Lavra, the brotherhood held a memorial service for him. Time passes, yet the authorities maintain a deathly silence over such an outrageous crime. The media are silent as well. And that silence has not gone unnoticed.
The tragedy at the monastery has already drawn comments from representatives of several Local Churches. Bishop Job of Stuttgart, for example, told the German branch of the UOJ that Ukrainian and German media had remained completely silent about the murder at Sviatohirsk. He stated plainly why he believes this is happening and made clear that he does not expect the crime to be solved:
“The ruthless and, I can only assume, unpunished killing of a representative of a Church that for many years has been on the verge of a state ban in Ukraine takes us in our thoughts back to the days of early Christianity, when adherents of a religio illicita – a forbidden religion – could and were expected to be eliminated for the good of society.”
But perhaps the German hierarch is deliberately painting too bleak a picture and maligning the Ukrainian authorities? Perhaps the country’s leadership simply has an extremely busy schedule and cannot respond to every individual murder, even one that causes a major public outcry?
Let us recall how that same leadership acted in similar cases.
On July 19, 2024, Iryna Farion was shot dead in Lviv. That very day, Volodymyr Zelensky responded immediately. He said the heads of the SBU and Interior Ministry were “reporting promptly” to him on the search for the killer. On the day of the murder, Interior Minister Klymenko stressed that police and other services were working at the scene of the shooting:
“They are taking witness statements and reviewing surveillance-camera footage. The investigation is in its active phase. I am receiving regular reports from police leadership on the measures taken and the circumstances established.”
Klymenko urged anyone with information about the circumstances of the crime to contact the police. Unsurprisingly, a murder suspect was detained five days later.
Did we see anything remotely similar after the murder of Monk Varsonofiy? Absolutely nothing.
On March 14, 2025, activist Demian Hanul was shot dead in Odesa. Again, Zelensky reacted immediately that same day. As in the Farion case, he instructed the heads of the SBU and Interior Ministry, as well as the prosecutor general, to “deploy all necessary forces and resources to establish all the facts.” A suspect was detained that same day.
Did we see anything remotely similar after the murder of Monk Varsonofiy? We did not.
On May 1, 2025, an attempt was made on the life of activist Serhiy Sternenko – a woman wounded him in the buttock. Although his life was never in danger, Zelensky’s response was again immediate. That same day, he said he had received a full report on the incident from the head of the SBU and thanked him for saving the activist.
Did we see anything remotely similar after the murder of Monk Varsonofiy? The question is becoming rhetorical.
On August 30, 2025, former Verkhovna Rada speaker Andriy Parubiy was murdered. Within an hour, Zelensky issued a statement. A few hours later, he said the heads of the SBU and Interior Ministry, along with the prosecutor general, were “reporting regularly” to him:
“A great many resources are involved – all that are necessary. Unfortunately, the crime was carefully prepared. But everything possible is being done to solve it.”
Naturally enough, a suspect was soon detained.
Parubiy, of course, was a top-level politician. But Farion, Hanul and Sternenko were ordinary activists. In a country where many Ukrainians die every day, such attention from the president toward them seems, to put it mildly, unusual. And yet he gave them that attention.
And now we have the horrific tragedy at the Sviatohirsk Lavra, which Zelensky had literally just placed on the list of Ukraine’s National Shrines – a monk shot dead, two other members of the monastery stabbed and wounded. Can we really suppose that the president was never informed?
No. That is virtually impossible. Logic suggests that Zelensky was briefed – and on the very same day. Yet there were no words of sympathy from the president, no talk of “regular reports” from the heads of the SBU and Interior Ministry or from the prosecutor general. There was only total, deafening silence.
And one cannot help thinking that this silence from both the authorities and the media was no accident.
On the day of the murder, August 23, Zelensky was speaking at a prayer breakfast across from the Lavra, where he said:
“Our entire struggle is also, in particular, about this – about a person’s right to speak with God, to speak with the Almighty the way he wants and wherever he wants.”
The murdered Monk Varsonofiy wanted to speak with the Almighty at the Sviatohirsk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
But he was not allowed to.
