The National Security and Defence Council has imposed personal sanctions against the abbot of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebid) and former MP Vadym Novinskyy. The sanctions were also imposed on at least five persons associated with the UOC (MP), LB.ua sources said.
Novinskyy resigned in the summer, explaining it by the war and occupation of Mariupol, from which he was elected to parliament in 2019. He was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Onufriy of the UOC (MP).
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) repeatedly found anti-Ukrainian national in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra run by Metropolitan Pavlo, and some of its clergymen praised the "Russian world". For example, Father Zakhariya, who yesterday was issued a notice of suspicion for justifying Russia's war against Ukraine.
The SBU conducted searches in the monastery on 22 November. They found a 32-year-old Ukrainian who may be involved in the illegal activities of the pro-Russian news agency Antwan. The detainee is also a trustee of the owner of the Russian company ANTVAN GROUP, a citizen of the Russian Federation, O. Orlov. The latter owned a number of land plots and catering establishments in Ukraine. Currently, his property is arrested within the criminal proceedings.
A week earlier, the SBU opened proceedings over the glorification of the "Russian world" during a service in one of the churches in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra on 12 November.
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is not the only religious institution administered by the UOC (MP) where anti-Ukrainian materials were found. The SBU conducted security measures in monasteries and churches of the UOC (MP) in different regions, including Vinnytsya, Transcarpathian, Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.