SSU Charges ROC Metropolitans for Alleged Involvement in the "Seizure of Churches" on Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine

The Security Service of Ukraine has issued in-absentia charges against temporary members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). According to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the case concerns encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine. This was reported by Radio Liberty.

Based on the case materials, the suspicions are related to the actions of four high-ranking ROC hierarchs who allegedly facilitated the seizure of Ukrainian churches in temporarily occupied regions. These individuals are:

Metropolitan Barsanuphius (Anatoly Sudakov), head of the St. Petersburg Metropolis;

Metropolitan Anthony (Anton Sevryuk), head of the ROC’s Department for External Church Relations;

Metropolitan George Ponomaryov, head of the Kolomna Diocese;

Metropolitan Dionysius (Petro Porubai), Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Allegedly, during 2022–2023, these clerics “helped seize church buildings and property belonging to Ukrainian religious communities in temporarily occupied territories”, including Crimea, the left bank of Kherson region, and parts of Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk regions. The SSU claims these actions were “coordinated with Patriarch Kirill, resulting in the appointment of bishops loyal to Russia.”

“For this purpose, according to the case materials, the Russian Synod issued decisions to ‘incorporate’ Ukrainian religious communities into the ROC,” the statement reads.

The investigation is being carried out under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Earlier, it was reported that on April 15, 2025, the SSU conducted searches at the residence of a cleric of the Boryspil Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. According to the investigation, the priest allegedly privatized a church and auxiliary buildings that “belong to the local community.”