Ukrainian court convicts Russian Orthodox priest in absentia for raising funds for Russian army

The Ivano-Frankivsk city court has sentenced in absentia a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladyslav Berehovy, to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. He was found guilty of encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and organization of fundraising for the armed forces of the Russian Federation.

As reported by Zaxid.net, the verdict was handed down on October 7. A native of Kiev, who now lives in Russia and is the rector of St. Nicholas Church in the town of Mosalsk, was sentenced in absentia. The court found that during 2022-2023, managing the youth department of the Pesochensky diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Beregovoy systematically conducted collections of aid for regular units of the Russian Armed Forces and illegal armed groups of the «DNR» and «LNR».

According to the case materials, the convict organized the sending of cars, thermal imaging cameras, radios, as well as devices for silent shooting to the Russian military. At the same time, in his Telegram channel he «conducted an ideological campaign against the local Ukrainian church and advocated for the preservation of the subordination of the UOC to the Moscow Patriarchate».

In addition to imprisonment and confiscation of property, the court deprived the priest Vladislav Beregovoy of the right to hold positions in state and local authorities for 15 years.

We shall remind you that earlier we reported that the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Horlivka and Slavyansk Mitrofan, was informed in absentia of suspicion of justifying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. According to the investigation, the basis for the charges was the hierarch’s interview with a Russian TV channel, in which he allegedly publicly supported the actions of the occupation forces.