“Usually, for one priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, they give us more than a dozen prisoners,” - special services

Sources in the Ukrainian special services have reported on the process of exchanging convicted priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for captured Ukrainian military personnel. It is noted that for each arrested priest of the UOC, the Russian side releases more than ten Ukrainian military personnel and civilians who have been captured by Russia. This was reported by Ukrainska Pravda.

«There is no consistent practice that a specific category of prisoners or civilian hostages can be exchanged for priests of the UOC. The individuals involved are different, and Russia’s level of interest in them varies. It can be said that representatives of the UOC express their desire to be transferred to Russia much more often than the aggressor country expresses its desire to take them,» — said the interlocutor.

The source added that more than ten prisoners of war can often be exchanged for one priest of the UOC. In this regard, the exchange of UOC clergy is obviously a priority.

“Usually, for one UOC priest, we get more than a dozen prisoners. Sometimes, thanks to such exchanges, it is possible to return not only military and civilian hostages, but also top agents of the Ukrainian special services,” — the source said.

Earlier, we reported that the public organization “Community of Olenivka,” which includes relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war, published a statement calling for the exchange of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, for Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen who are being held captive by the Russian side. The organization believes that the deprivation of citizenship of the Primate of the UOC “opens up the possibility for his exchange.”