It is worth noting that on April 15, 2025, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches in the office of Metropolitan Antoniy (Pakanich), the Managing Director of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. These searches are part of an investigation concerning “obstructing the activities of religious communities, specifically their re-subordination.”
SSU conducts searches of cleric of Boryspil diocese of UOC
On April 15, 2025, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches at the home of a clergyman of the Boryspil Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. According to the investigation, the clergyman allegedly privatized the church and outbuildings that “belong to the local community.” This was reported by the press service of the department.
According to media reports, it is a cleric of the Boryspil Diocese of the UOC, Archimandrite Theognost (Yurash), who is the rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael in the village of Protsiv, Kyiv region. The SSU alleges that the priest illegally privatized the church and auxiliary premises with a total area of 500 square meters. The value of the property was estimated at 7 million hryvnias. If proven guilty, Archimandrite Theognost faces up to 12 years in prison.
“According to the case file, the archimandrite initially ‘donated’ the church buildings to his sister. After acquiring the rights to this property, the cleric’s relative transferred them to a charitable foundation controlled by the rector of the church. Through the affiliated structure, the cleric planned to solely dispose of the community buildings, having the right, in particular, to sell them to third parties or illegally lease them. During the searches, the SSU found computers, phones and “documents” with evidence of the transaction,” – the SSU said in a statement.
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