Vladimir Zelensky imposed sanctions against nine high-ranking religious figures in Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree enacting a decision of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) that envisages personal sanctions against nine members of the clergy of the Russian Federation. The sanctions list includes mainly high-ranking figures of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).

According to the publication «Polityka Strana», the list includes persons occupying key positions in the church hierarchy and structures closely interacting with the state apparatus of the Russian Federation. Among them are the chief chaplain in the war zone Dmitry Vasilenkov, as well as Bishop Sergei Tutunov of Zelenograd, who is Patriarch Kirill’s vicar and deputy administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The restrictive measures also affected a number of metropolitans, including Metropolitan Lev (Leonid Pokrovsky) of Novgorod and Starorussk and Metropolitan Constantine (Ilya Ostrovsky), Patriarchal Exarch of Africa. Metropolitan Kornilii (Konstantin Titov), the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, was also on the list.

In addition to the top clergy, the chairman of the Orthodox society «Radonezh» Evgeny Nikiforov, Archpriest Peter Bartsev and former secretary of the Odessa diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Andrei Novikov, who is currently serving in Moscow, fell under the restrictions. These measures are aimed at blocking the assets and limiting the influence of these persons on the territory of Ukraine.

We shall remind you that on November 22, 2024 Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree, according to which he enacted the decision of the National Security and Defence Council on deprivation of state awards «traitors to Ukraine», first of all, 34 people will be deprived of their honors. The «traitors of Ukraine» also included the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.