A senior cleric from a branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has historical ties to Moscow, has been ordered into pre-trial detention by a Kyiv court. The cleric is suspected of sympathizing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leading to Ukraine’s crackdown on the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, accusing it of being pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church denies these allegations, claiming to have severed all ties with Moscow in the previous year. However, numerous searches have been conducted at its churches, and many of its clergy members have faced charges.
Metropolitan Pavlo, who had been under house arrest since April on charges of inflaming religious hatred and justifying the Russian invasion, was ordered by a Kyiv district court to be detained unless he could post bail of more than 33 million hryvnias (around $900,000).
Reports suggest that Metropolitan Pavlo informed the court that he could not afford the bail amount. He was quoted as saying, “I hand over the investigator and the prosecutor into the hands of God. May they be rewarded for today.”
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) recently informed Pavlo of new allegations related to a media interview in which he allegedly denied the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state. Additionally, allegations were made that he violated the terms of his house arrest by being seen near the Pechersk Monastery in Kyiv.
Authorities in Ukraine have been attempting to remove members of the Moscow-linked church from the monastery, which has sparked further controversy.
The Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church is accused of maintaining connections with the Russian Orthodox Church, which supports the war and used to be its parent church. While the majority of Ukraine’s population adheres to Orthodox Christianity, the faith is divided in the country.
An independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it faced years of opposition from Russia before gaining recognition from the global Orthodox hierarchy in 2019.