The former priest of one of Kherson diocese of the UOC-MP cathedrals, Oleksiy, who was the spiritual father of Gauleiter Saldo and blessed the pseudo-referendum in the Region, was served a notice of suspicion.
"After the seizure of the regional centre, he supported the Russian invaders and joined the inner circle of Gauleiter Saldo, becoming his spiritual father," the SBU press service said in a statement.
According to the investigation, the archimandrite regularly invited him to worship in the church, and during his sermons, he blessed the illegal referendum of the Russian Federation on the "joining" of Kherson Region to the Russia.
Oleksiy also personally appealed to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to include the local cathedral in the parish of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In exchange for the cleric's joining to the Russians, they gave his cathedral the seized territories of Ukrtelecom and local businessmen in the central part of Kherson.
"At the same time, on 30 September 2022, the traitor was invited to the St. George's Hall of the Kremlin to participate in the 'ceremony of inclusion' of the temporarily occupied Regions of Ukraine in the Russian Federation," the SBU added.
According to the SBU, during the liberation of Kherson, the cleric fled with the Russian invaders to the left-bank part of the Region and became the secretary of the so-called Skadovsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The SBU notified him in absentia of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- p. 2 of Art. 111 (high treason);
- p. 1 Art. 111-2 (aiding the aggressor state).
Comprehensive measures to bring the offender to justice for the crimes are under way.