Ihor Mosiychuk: Arrest of Metropolitan Arseniy initiated by Zelensky to force exchange

Former Ukrainian MP Ihor Mosiychuk said that the arrest of the governor of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy, was initiated personally by President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Mosiychuk, the purpose of such actions is to force the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to agree to an exchange with the Russian Federation, despite the fact that the metropolitan himself has repeatedly stated his unwillingness to leave Ukraine.

In an interview with blogger Alexander Shelest, the former MP emphasized that the decision to take Metropolitan Arseny into custody was made at the highest level. «This was done by the personal decision of Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky. If they start saying again that it was Yelensky, Yermak – no, it was all done on the personal instructions of Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky,» Mosiychuk said.

According to the politician, the main purpose of the arrest was to put pressure on the clergyman to agree to an exchange. “So that Metropolitan Arseniy agrees to an exchange. For someone from the Russian Federation, and someone significant, clearly someone who is valuable to the Russian Federation,” he explained. Mosiychuk added that with such actions, the authorities are sending the metropolitan an ultimatum: “either exchange or die.”

Ihor Mosiychuk also expressed outrage at the severity of the preventive measure chosen, noting that, given the metropolitan’s advanced age and state of health, he could have been placed under house arrest. He recalled that Bishop Arsenius is the abbot of one of the three main monasteries of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and did not leave the monastery even during intense Russian shelling, twice finding himself under rubble. “This situation has nothing to do with religious affiliation, nothing at all – it has to do with one thing: humanity,” the former MP concluded.

Earlier, Metropolitan Isaac (Barakat) of German and Central Europe, a hierarch of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, publicly expressed his support for Metropolitan Arsenius of Svyatogorsk, who is under investigation. In his address, he emphasized the pastoral merits of Bishop Arsenius and called on believers to pray for his speedy release and healing.