UOC priest on trial in Kherson region for “justifying Russian aggression”

The Oleshky District Prosecutor’s Office of the Kherson Region has sent an indictment to court against a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He is accused of public calls to change the borders of the territory of Ukraine and denying the occupation of part of Ukraine (Part 1 of Article 110, Part 1 of Article 436-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). This is reported by the website of the Kherson Region Prosecutor’s Office.

“According to the investigation, in September 2022, while staying in the then-occupied Bilozerka, the priest expressed support for the aggressor country during public events. In his speeches, he called for changing the borders of Ukraine’s territory, supported the occupation of the region and its “entry” into the Russian Federation, and promoted the ideas of the “Russian world.” The special pre-trial investigation was conducted by the Department No. 1 of the Kherson Regional Police Department of the National Police in Kherson region,” – the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

We recall that on January 13, 2025, investigators of the Cherkasy Prosecutor’s Office served a suspicion on a cleric of the Cherkasy Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Roman Gorkavenko, who defended the Archangel Michael Cathedral of Cherkasy from the seizure of the Archangel Michael Cathedral by supporters of the OCU. The priest is charged with the article “For hooliganism,” which provides for imprisonment from 3 to 7 years. According to investigators, the clergyman “committed hooliganism with the use of special means.”