SSU announces new suspicion to vicar of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

The Security Service of Ukraine has announced a new suspicion against the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the abbot of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed) of Chornobyl and Vyshgorod. This time, the bishop is accused of “denying the existence of Ukraine as an independent state” and calling the Russian-Ukrainian war a “civil conflict.” The hierarch faces 8 years in prison. This is reported by the official website of the department.

“It is documented that the day before the first suspicion was announced by the SSU, the Metropolitan gave a video interview to one of the domestic media. In it, he denied the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state. He also called the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine a “civil conflict” that has been going on since 2014. A forensic linguistic examination initiated by the SSU confirmed these facts of the cleric’s criminal actions,” — the SSU said in a statement.

The agency added that the criminal articles under which a new suspicion was formed against Metropolitan Pavel provide for a sentence of imprisonment for up to 8 years with confiscation of property.

“Based on the evidence collected, the Security Service investigators informed the Metropolitan of a new suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 161 (violation of the equality of citizens depending on their religious beliefs committed by an official repeatedly); Part 3 of Article 436-2; Part 3 of Article 436-2 (violation of the equality of citizens depending on their religious beliefs committed by an official repeatedly); Part. 3 of Art. 436-2 (justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine committed by an official repeatedly). The issue of choosing a measure of restraint in the form of detention is currently being decided. Investigative actions are ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crimes. The sanctions of the articles provide for up to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property,” — the SSU added.

Earlier, Metropolitan Jonathan (Yeleckykh) of Tulchin and Bratslav spoke about the charges brought against him by the courts in Ukraine and why he was actually sentenced to prison. The bishop said that among the charges, he was even charged with a church-analytical publication that he wrote in 2022.