Ukraine cleric accused of glorifying Russia invasion sentenced to house arrest, church says

Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, has denied the charges and resisted authorities’ order to vacate the monastery

‘I am accepting this,’ he said before a monitoring bracelet was attached to his ankle. ‘Christ was crucified on the cross, so why shouldn’t I accept this?’

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Members of the State Security Service of Ukraine read an accusation letter to Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, in Kyiv, Ukraine on Saturday. Photo: Press Service of the State Security Service of Ukraine / Handout via Reuters

Published: 9:25pm, 1 Apr 2023Updated: 4:11am, 2 Apr 2023

A Kyiv court ordered a leading priest to be put under house arrest on Saturday after Ukraine’s top security agency said he was suspected of justifying Russian aggression, a criminal offence. It was the latest move in a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery.

Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site, has denied the charges and resisted the authorities’ order to vacate the complex.

After the court’s ruling, a monitoring bracelet was placed around his ankle, despite his objections that he has diabetes and should not wear it.

Believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church pray and hold icons outside the historic Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv, Ukraine on Saturday. Photo: AFP

I am accepting this,” he said before the bracelet was attached. “Christ was crucified on the cross, so why shouldn’t I accept this?”

In a court hearing earlier in the day, the metropolitan said the claim by the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, that he condoned Russia’s invasion was politically driven.

“I have never been on the side of aggression,” Pavel told reporters in the courthouse. “This is my land.”

Earlier in the week, he cursed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, threatening him with damnation.

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