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Priest of the Moscow Patriarchate to be tried for calling to change the borders of Ukraine

13 August, 15:40

Prosecutors in Kirovograd sent to court an indictment against priest Andriy Novikov, who called for the overthrow of the constitutional order, changing the borders of Ukraine's territory and justified Russia's armed aggression.

This was reported by the press service of the department, according to 'Tochka Dostupu' ('Access Point').

During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Andriy Novikov, a citizen of Ukraine, went to Russia and became a full-time clergyman there.

He created a Telegram channel which he used to publish and repost materials on the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, changing the borders of Ukraine's territory and recognizing Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine as legitimate.

The Telegram channel "Priest Andrei Novikov" had more than two thousand subscribers. He posted the following messages: "The defeat of the West on the Ukrainian direction is inevitable," "Forward, ever forward! To Victory, Russian state leader!", "Military victory against Ukraine and the West," and so on.

The accused faces five years in prison with or without confiscation of property.
ROC priest Andriy Novikov is the rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Moscow. Until 2014, he was the secretary of the Odesa diocese of the UOC-MP.

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