Metropolitan Ionafan of one of the Vinnytsya Region dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) was sentenced to five years in prison. He justified Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has said on Telegram.
The head of the Tulchyn diocese in Vinnytsya Region, who publicly justified Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, was convicted based on SBU findings. The court validated the evidence collected by the special service and sentenced the cleric to five years in prison.
In particular, he was charged under the following of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
Article 109 Part 2 (actions aimed at the violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or the seizure of state power);
Article 110 Part 1 (encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine);
Article 161 Part 2 (violation of equality of citizens based on their race, nationality, region, religious beliefs, disability and other grounds);
Article 436-2 Part 3 (justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants).
According to the investigation, the defendant distributed propaganda leaflets among believers, calling for the seizure of power and changing the state border of Ukraine. He posted publications in support of the Russian occupiers and their war crimes on one of the Russian Orthodox Church's websites.
An SBU-initiated examination of the materials seized during the searches (pro-Kremlin propaganda and literature) confirmed the facts of the metropolitan's illegal activities.
The SBU sent an indictment to the court in January.
In November 2022, the SBU served a notice of suspicion to Ionafan. In October, his place was searched.
In May 2023, based on SBU materials, the Kropyvnytskyy district court for the first time in Ukraine sentenced UOC-MP Metropolitan Iosaf, former head of the Kirovohrad diocese, to death. He and the secretary of this institution fully pleaded guilty to the charges pressed by the SBU.