Two Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the so-called Moscow Patriarchate priests were exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners

UOC MP priest Mykola Zakroets convicted of treason / Photo: Religious Truth

Ukraine exchanged two priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the so-called Moscow Patriarchate — Mykola Zakroiets and Oleksandr Lunehov, as part of the exchange of prisoners from the Russian Federation. One was convicted for justifying Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the other for treason.

«Religious Truth» writes about this with reference to the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation Tetiana Moskalkova.

It is noted that Oleksandr Lunehov was a cleric of the Dnipropetrovsk diocese. He was sentenced to 5 years on the charge of justifying Russian aggression against Ukraine.

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He followed Russian propaganda channels on Telegram. In addition, he was a member of a chatbot that collected information about the Armed Forces.

Another clergyman, Mykola Zakroiets, was the abbot of the St. George Church of the UOC MP in Yampol, Sumy Oblast. In October 2023, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on suspicion of treason.

Investigators established that he passed on data to the Russians about the whereabouts of the head of the Yampol community, as well as law enforcement officers, local authorities, and journalists from Shostka and Yampol.

We will remind you that 83% of Ukrainians believe that the state should intervene in one way or another in the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the so-called Moscow Patriarchate.

191 churches of the Moscow Patriarchate continue to function in the Mykolayiv region. Only 10 out of 296 UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate transferred to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Also, the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy recommended for the second reading a draft law banning the so-called Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.