OThe security services stated that the metropolitan (archbishop) of the main Sviatogirsk monastery was suspected of “informing” the Russians about “the positions of checkpoints of the Ukrainian armed forces” in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region.
The leader is accused of having publicly mentioned the locations to his congregation “during a liturgy”, according to the services, without specifying the date of the events or explicitly naming Metropolitan Arseniy.
The Orthodox leader risks up to eight years in prison if convicted of “transmitting information about the movements or location of armed forces.”
At issue is a monastery managed by the branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, historically linked to Moscow, but which in May 2022, proclaimed its independence in response to Russian Patriarch Kirill’s support for the Russian invasion.
According to Ukrainian services, the monastery has been propagating separatist sentiments for years and transmitting “messages favorable to the Kremlin.”
The Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed and where the monastery is located, is one of the areas where the fighting is particularly violent.
In spring 2022, during the first months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sviatogirsk monastery was damaged by Russian shelling.
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