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More than 60 criminal cases opened against UOC priests since 2022

More than 60 criminal cases opened against UOC priests since 2022

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The Security Service of Ukraine stated that since 2022, 61 criminal cases have been initiated against the clergy of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), almost 250 representatives of the UOC have been banned from entering the country. It is reported by TASS.

The secret service indicated that since 2022, more than 40 “complex counterintelligence measures” have been carried out in the church environment of the UOC. “As a result of the activities carried out by the SBU, 61 criminal cases were initiated against 61 clergymen. In total, the courts have already issued seven sentences against individual clerics,” the SBU said in a statement.

It is specified that almost 250 clergymen are denied entry to Ukraine, and sanctions are also imposed on 17 representatives of the UOC.

Since November 2022, the Ukrainian authorities have stepped up their actions against the UOC — the SBU has been conducting searches in its churches and dioceses throughout the country. On December 1, 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, aimed, in fact, at banning the UOC.

At present, the situation around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, one of the first monasteries of Rus’ and the oldest monastery on the territory of modern Ukraine, has escalated. The directorate of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra reserve announced the termination of the indefinite lease of objects from the canonical UOC and ordered the monks to leave the territory. The UOC refused to leave the walls of the monastery, both sides went to court. On Saturday morning, law enforcement officers cordoned off a building in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where its vicar, Metropolitan Pavel of the UOC, lives. The SBU charged him with inciting religious hatred and justifying the Russian Federation. The premises where the Metropolitan lives were searched. At the moment, a court session is being held behind closed doors to select a measure of restraint for him.

Source: Rosbalt

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