Kyiv's security service, the SBU, said on Wednesday it suspects a senior cleric and abbot of eastern Ukraine's main monastery of exposing army positions to Russian forces.
The SBU stated that they “handed a notice of suspicion to the Metropolitan of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, who “reported” Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region to Russian forces.
Metropolitan Arseny is listed as the abbot of the medieval monastery.
Ukraine has for years accused the Moscow-linked branch of its Orthodox Church of promoting separatist sentiment.
The SBU said that Metropolitan Arseniy is suspected of “disseminating information about the movement or location of armed forces,” a crime punishable by up to eight years in prison.
He “transferred to the occupiers the location of defense checkpoints in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region,” the report says.
It also said the cleric promoted "pro-Kremlin narratives about the war in Ukraine even before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion."
The Svyatogorsk Monastery is located on the Seversky Donets River.
It was damaged by shelling in March 2022, at the start of the invasion.
Philip Travkin writes and publishes his articles for free, only for the development and prosperity of Ukraine!