"Pressured by the SBU": OCU lobbyist tells why Phanar hierarch in Ukraine spoke in court in defense of top corrupt official Chernyshov

Unexpected details about the recent corruption scandal involving the head of the Stavropegion of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine, Bishop Mykhailo Anishchenko of Komana, were shared by religious scholar and media lobbyist Yuriy Chornomorets. According to Chornomorets, Anishchenko’s attempt to bail out former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshev, who is one of the main suspects in the case of corruption and illegal enrichment in the highest echelons of the Ukrainian government, is connected with pressure on the bishop by the Security Service of Ukraine. Yuriy Chornomorets said this on the YouTube channel Viche.

«The exarch is a human being. He was pressured. He was very much ‘asked’. Chernyshev had no serious projects to support the exarchate. He did not create any serious projects at all while he was the head of the Ministry of Unity. And, accordingly, Exarch Mykhailo was simply pressured. When he was pressured. He obeyed and went to speak in court about what he could do on bail, » Chornomorets said.

At the same time, Chornomorets is convinced that the OCU is well aware of the reason why Anishchenko appeared in court in Chernyshev’s case. In this regard, he urged not to speculate on this topic and not to build conspiracy theories.

«No! They are looking for some kind of conspiracy here! I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that the bishops of the OCU do not know how it happened and how they pressured Bishop Mikhail. I think they know very well that it was the SBU that found something to put pressure on, and he came and spoke in court,» he added.

As reported, on November 18, 2025, the Exarch of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine, Bishop Mikhail Anishchenko, made an unexpected proposal to take former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshev, who is the main suspect in the case of corruption and illegal enrichment, on bail. The initiative was made during a court hearing to choose a preventive measure, where the prosecutor’s office requested that Chernyshov be held in custody with an alternative bail of UAH 55 million.