“For the justification of aggression": in Vinnitsa region a priest of the UOC is tried for activity in Telegram

The Vinnytsya regional prosecutor’s office has filed charges against a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church over his activities in the messenger Telegram. It is reported that the cleric allegedly spread information that justifies Russian military aggression against Ukraine. He faces up to eight years in prison. About it reports the press-service of the Vinnytsia regional Prosecutor’s office.

“The cleric is accused that during 2022 — 2024 in his own account in Telegram distributed text and video materials with a clear support of pro-Russian ideology and anti-Ukrainian position. The primary sources of such information were often Russian Telegram feeds that talk about the “true causes of the war” and present Russian armed aggression as an internal civil conflict of Ukrainians. Such messages portrayed Ukrainian servicemen as brutal aggressors against civilians, especially women and children, and Russian occupation troops and illegal armed groups as peacekeepers and liberators. The offense is punishable by up to 8 years’ imprisonment,” — the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Earlier we reported, that Verkhovyna District Court of the Ivano-Frankivsk region has sentenced a woman who allegedly created a “bot” to ridicule and criticize the OCU on Facebook. The court materials state that in 2023, a local resident spread critical comments about the OCU on social networks, as a result of which she was investigated by the SSU, and later a criminal case was opened against her.