Ukraine has put Vadim Novinsky on wanted list on charges of "state treason and incitement of religious hatred"

Ukraine has put former MP Protodeacon Vadym Novynskyy on a wanted list. He is charged with «high treason» and «incitement of religious hatred». According to the investigation, Novinsky, presumably, since 2018, disseminated information in support of the policy of the Russian Federation, aimed at weakening the independence of Ukraine, as well as promoting narratives of the ideology of the «Russian world». This is reported by «Glavcom».

According to the information posted on the website of the Ministry of internal Affairs of Ukraine, Vadim Novinsky is listed in the section «The person who is hiding from the bodies of pre-trial investigation». The date of his «disappearance» is March 4, 2025, although, according to law enforcement agencies, the influential businessman left the country much earlier — in 2022. The basis for the wanted list was the suspicion brought against the oligarch in January 2025 under Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine («High Treason») and Part 2 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine («Incitement of religious enmity and hatred»).

The investigation claims that «no later than 2018, Vadim Novinsky, acting in coordination with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, began disseminating information in support of Russian Federation policy.» His activities included «numerous interviews and publications in social networks, made in the style of Russian propaganda.» In addition, the former MP, according to the investigation, made statements about the OCU and the UOC-KP, «characterizing them in negative and stigmatizing terms, which can be interpreted as incitement of hatred and enmity on religious grounds».

We will remind, earlier the Pechersky district court of Kiev on September 15, 2025 in absentia elected a measure of restraint in the form of detention in absentia for the protodeacon of the UOC and former people’s Deputy Vadim Novinsky. He is suspected of state treason and inciting religious hatred, which may entail extradition and imprisonment for up to 15 years.