Ukraine exchanged the priest of the UOC MP for 28 prisoners of war

In an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Malyuk, said that Kyiv handed over two priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to Russia.

According to him, one of the priests was exchanged for 28 Ukrainian prisoners of war. It is not specified under what conditions the second priest was exchanged.

The Russian authorities did not comment on the message.

Vasyl Malyuk also stated that the SBU had initiated “complex counter-intelligence measures” against the UOC-MP last year. The priests were suspected of collaboration with Moscow. As a result, criminal cases were initiated against 61 clergymen. Seven sentences have already been passed on them. 19 priests were deprived of Ukrainian citizenship.

• The UOC is one of the two largest Orthodox religious organizations of Ukraine, along with the autocephalous OCU. After the start of the war, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared “independence” from the Moscow Patriarchate, but this independence was not legally formalized. The authorities believe that a number of priests and hierarchs of the UOC de facto take a pro-Russian position.
• The SBU conducts searches and other checks in monasteries and churches of the UOC. According to the statement of the Ukrainian special services, during the searches they find pro-Russian literature and evidence that makes it possible to suspect the clerics of cooperation with the Russian army and the FSB. On April 1, the court in Kyiv sent the vicar of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Pavlo (Lebed) under house arrest. He is suspected of inciting interreligious discord and justifying Russian aggression.
• The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted in its recent report that the actions of the Ukrainian authorities in relation to the UOC may be discriminatory in nature. In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called on the UN to refrain from unbalanced political assessments.