Ex-MP: Zelensky personally ordered Metropolitan Arseniy to be jailed
Ihor Mosiychuk stated that the authorities are trying to force the abbot of Sviatohirsk Lavra to agree to a prisoner exchange.
Former member of the Ukrainian parliament Ihor Mosiychuk, in an interview with blogger Oleksandr Shelest, said that the decision to arrest Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk was made personally by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“This was done by direct decision of Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky himself. And if they start saying again that it was Yelensky or Yermak – no, this was all done by the personal order of Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky,” Mosiychuk emphasized.
He stressed that although he himself belongs to another confession – the UOC-KP – the authorities could have chosen a milder preventive measure for the hierarch, considering his health condition and the time he has already spent behind bars.
“The elder could have been placed under house arrest – round-the-clock or nighttime – but not in prison, not in a pre-trial detention center, which is too tough,” Mosiychuk said indignantly.
He believes that the purpose of the arrest is to force Metropolitan Arseniy to agree to an exchange: “The goal is to make Metropolitan Arseniy agree to a prisoner swap – for someone from the Russian Federation, clearly a significant person, someone valuable for Russia.”
At the same time, Metropolitan Arseniy has repeatedly stated that he is Ukrainian and has no intention of leaving Ukraine. “But through this arrest, Zelensky is sending him a direct message: either agree to the exchange or die,” Mosiychuk declared.
The former MP reminded that Metropolitan Arseniy is the abbot of Sviatohirsk Lavra, one of the three main monasteries of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Twice he was buried under rubble during Russian shelling but never abandoned the monastery.
“This situation has nothing to do with religious affiliation or anything else – it concerns one thing only: humanity,” Mosiychuk concluded.
Recall that Metropolitan Arseniy (Yakovenko) has been in custody since April 2024. Earlier, the UOJ reported that Metropolitan Arseniy had been sent back to prison.
