From: New Voice of Ukraine 🇺🇦
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has officially notified four Russian metropolitans in absentia of being suspected of facilitating the seizure of churches in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The SBU announced this on Monday, Dec. 9.
Those notified of suspicion include:
- The head of the St. Petersburg Metropolis, Metropolitan Barsanuphius (Anatoliy Sudakov)
- The head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), Metropolitan Anthony (Anton Sevryuk)
- The administrator of the Kolomna Diocese and patriarchal vicar of the Moscow Metropolis, Metropolitan Krutitsky (Georgiy Ponomaryov)
- The chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Dionysius (Petro Porubay)
All four are members of the ROC’s Holy Synod.
According to the Ukrainian security agency, the suspects facilitated the seizure of Ukrainian church properties in 2022–2023. These incidents took place in the left-bank areas of Kherson Oblast, in temporarily occupied regions of Zaporizhzhya and Luhansk Oblasts, as well as in Crimea.
Voice of Ukraine 