Security Service has gathered conclusive evidence of the guilt of the head of the UOC-MP Diocese of Cherkasy, who denied the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and justified the actions of the invaders.
This was reported by LB.ua, citing the SBU Telegram.
According to the investigation, in 2020, the cleric ordered the creation of a new departmental website in the diocese, modeled after the template of the Russian Orthodox Church. The website was developed using Russian software that allowed the retransmission of destructive content from pro-Kremlin Internet resources, including patriarchia.ru and pravoslavie.ru. These sites are known to be used by propagandists of the Russian Orthodox Church to justify the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and the war crimes of the occupiers.
As per the evidence collected, the SBU investigators have notified the Metropolitan of suspicion under Part 2 and Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which includes justifying, recognizing the lawfulness or denying Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, and glorifying its participants. On the "new" website, the Metropolitan praised Moscow the priests aiding the aggressor and called for the "unification" of religious communities in the war against Ukraine, as reported by LB.ua, citing SBU Telegram.
The issue of choosing a preventive measure is being resolved. Investigative and operational actions were carried out by SBU officers in the Cherkasy region under the procedural leadership of the regional prosecutor's office.
The head of the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC-MP is the metropolitan Feodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv.
As reported earlier, in February, the head of the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC-MP was notified of suspicion on charges of inciting inter-confessional hatred. In public statements among priests and believers and official comments, he spread appeals that violate the equality of citizens depending on their race, national, and regional affiliation and beliefs.