SBU reports suspicion to abbot of UOC monastery in Izium Eparchy

The SBU reported suspicion to the abbot of the monastery in the Izium Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Part 3, Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (justification of the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine using the media). The SBU press service said that a preventive measure is being considered now and that the cleric is facing up to 8 years in prison.

The SBU said that the vicar "consecrated the Russian military during the occupation of Izium".

"During the temporary occupation of the region, he voluntarily supported the Russian invaders and by his own example urged other local residents to do so. The man publicly stated that the local religious community was subordinate exclusively to the Russian ROC. He also wrote a letter to an aide to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow asking him to send 'humanitarian aid' to the occupied part of the region," the report said.

"He repeatedly spoke in front of cameras of Kremlin propagandists who were visiting then-occupied Izium. In his comments, the offender discredited Ukrainian defenders, denied the facts of Russian aggression and glorified the annihilated Rashists," the SBU added.

As reported, the SBU promised that Ukraine would have a "Ukrainian Сhurch".