ROC Metropolitan faces suspicion for "subordinating Ukrainian dioceses to Moscow"

The Office of the Prosecutor-General and the Security Service of Ukraine have reported suspicion of a Russian citizen, Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk. The bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church is accused of «justifying Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and using his position to carry out enemy propaganda».

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, according to the investigation, the suspect heads the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies of the Russian Federation. This structure, according to Ukrainian law enforcers, provides ideological support for the actions of the Russian military and political leadership and is a link between the state, the Church and the army.

The investigation found that Metropolitan Kirill «acted in collusion with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and other church representatives, contributing to the subordination of Ukrainian dioceses to Moscow». In addition, he was «engaged in creating a system of information influence on believers in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, spreading theses about ‘unity with Russia’ and justifying the occupation.»

As evidence is cited a video message dated October 1, 2022, in which the Metropolitan openly endorsed Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine. The video was later published on the official YouTube channel of a division of the Russian Orthodox Church. In July 2023, the bishop repeated Kremlin narratives about a «just war» and «heroic liberators» in an interview with the Russian state-run RIA Novosti news agency, turning «the religious pulpit into a propaganda tool,» according to the investigation.

Through his actions, according to the report, the suspect «helped undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and formed a distorted view of the causes and consequences of the war among believers. Pre-trial investigation is carried out by the Main investigative Department of the SBU under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General».

We shall remind you that the Ivano-Frankivsk city court sentenced in absentia to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Vladislav Beregovoy. He was found guilty of encroaching on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and organizing fundraising for the armed forces of the Russian Federation.