Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn of the UOC-MP refused to be exchanged as a prisoner of war

This was reported by Glavkom, citing data from the court register.

According to the case file, on April 10, 2024, the clergyman, who was sentenced in Ukraine to five years in prison with confiscation of property for denying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and distributing materials calling for altering the borders of the territory of Ukraine (the sentence did not enter into force because the hierarch filed an appeal), voluntarily agreed to his exchange as a prisoner of war and transfer to representatives of Russia. The Joint Center for the Coordination of the Search and Release of Prisoners of War and Illegally Deprived of Liberty as a Result of Aggression Against Ukraine under the SBU included the Metropolitan of the UOC-MP in the exchange list.

However, at a court hearing on June 12, the accused clergyman abruptly changed his position, saying that he was against being transferred to the Russian side in the status of a POW, as he did not consider himself one. At the same time, he admitted that "On April 10, he personally wrote an application for exchange, but now he has changed his mind. He provided the court with a new statement in which he denied being exchanged as a prisoner of war.

The defendant's defense counsel supported his client. He noted that his client did not have the status of a prisoner of war, was a serving metropolitan, and had not resigned his office. He drew attention to the fact that Jonathan's application for exchange, provided by the prosecutor, was taken at a time when the hierarch was undergoing treatment in a cardiac center. According to the defense counsel, the Metropolitan does not plead guilty and "wishes to continue working for the good of Ukraine."