In Odesa, SBU declares suspicion to UOC cleric for sermons

The SBU official is presenting a suspicion notice to a UOC priest. Photo: SBU

In Odesa, the SBU has issued a suspicion notice to the rector of one of the UOC churches for anti-Ukrainian activities. According to the SBU, the priest praised Vladimir Putin in his sermons, glorified Russian occupation forces and justified their actions, including the shelling of Ukraine's civilian infrastructure.

The Security Service reports that during interactions with parishioners, the priest also spread ideas of religious intolerance and made negative comments about representatives of other faiths.

The charges are based on a forensic linguistic examination carried out at the SBU’s initiative. It claims that the rector's statements contained signs of justifying Russian aggression and inciting religious hatred.

As a result of the investigation, the priest has been charged under two articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code:

- Violation of citizens' equality (Part 1 of Article 161);
- Justification of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation (Part 1 of Article 436-2).

The priest faces imprisonment. An investigation is ongoing to clarify all the circumstances of the case.

The SBU has not disclosed the name of the accused, but according to the information from the UOJ, it concerns the rector of the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the Odesa Eparchy of the UOC, Volodymyr Koretsky.

As reported by the UOJ, the SBU has also presented a suspicion notice to a monk of the Introduction (Vvedensky) Monastery.

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