The abbot of the male monastery of St. Savva, the Sanctified of the UOC-MP, Ivan (Prokopenko), located in the temporarily occupied city of Melitopol, has been charged with collaboration activities.
This was reported by the Spiritual Front.
Last year, Archimandrite Ivan actively participated in a propaganda event called (in the original language) "Forum of the public movement 'We are together with Russia'" in Melitopol. There he expressed support for the occupiers and supported the actions of the aggressor country, according to the Prosecutor General's Office.
Archimandrite Ivan (Prokopenko), together with Metropolitan "Luhansk and Alchevsk" of the UOC (MP) Panteleimon (Povoroznyuk), participated in a celebration in Moscow in September last year, announcing the "annexation" of the occupied parts of the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions by Russia.
Archimandrite Prokopenko also blessed the "government officials" in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region to speed up the "referendum."
The clergyman has been charged under two parts (5 and 6) of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - collaboration activities. He faces up to 12 years in prison.