Ukraine imposes sanctions on 7 more representatives of Moscow-linked Ukrainian Church

The National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine imposed sanctions on seven more representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) on Sunday, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved them.  Source: President's website Details: Zelenskyy has enacted with his decree the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine on imposing personal special economic and other restriction measures (sanctions) from 11 December. 

New sanctions are applied to the following people: 

  • Andrii Kovalenko, Metropolitan of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol of the UOC-MP; 
  • Vasyl Povorozniuk, Metropolitan of Luhansk and Alchevsk of the UOC-MP; 
  • Oleksandr Prokopenko, a superior of the Monastery of the Saint Sava of the UOC-MP in Melitopol; 
  • Oleksandr Fedorov, a superior of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the UOC-MP in Kherson; 
  • Ivan Pakanych, Metropolitan Antonii of Boryspil and Brovary of the UOC-MP, the so-called administrator of the UOC-MP, a member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church; 
  • Valentyn Yehorenko, Metropolitan Meletii of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna of the UOC-MP, the head of the UOC-MP external church relations department;
  • Viktor Shynkariov, Archbishop Paisius of Kostiantynivka, Vicar of Horlivka Diocese of the UOC-MP.

Background:

  • On 1 December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to propose that the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) institute a ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), and also initiated a review of the legality of the UOC-MP's presence at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves).
  • On the same day, Zelenskyy put into effect personal sanctions against representatives of religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence in the Russian Federation.
  • Later, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) published a full list of 10 individuals connected with the UOC-MP who have been sanctioned. 
  • Moreover, the SSU has conducted a number of searches on the premises of the UOC-MP. Searches were done in Zhytomyr, Rivne, Zakarpattia, Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv and other oblasts.

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