The Security Service exposed the rector of a church in the Odesa diocese of the UOC (MP). According to the case file, the cleric justified Russia's war against Ukraine and incited religious hatred. UNN reports this with reference to the SBU.
According to the investigation, during his sermons and communication with the faithful, the archpriest praised Putin and glorified the Russian occupation groups.
The rector also tried to justify the war crimes of the racists, including the Russian shelling of Ukraine's civilian infrastructure.
Separately, the cleric imposed his own intolerance of representatives of other faiths on his parishioners and incited religious hatred.
A forensic linguistic examination initiated by the SBU confirmed the facts of the archpriest's information and subversive activities in favor of Russia.
There is not a single religious community of the UOC - MP left in Lviv region- RMA30.11.24, 03:28
Based on the collected evidence, the SBU investigators served the offender a notice of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 1 of Art. 161 (violation of equality of citizens based on their race, nationality, region, religious beliefs and other grounds);
- Part 1 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition of the legitimacy, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants).
An investigation is underway to establish all the circumstances of the crime. The cleric faces imprisonment.