POWs families demand to exchange Metropolitan Pavel for their relatives

Metropolitan Pavel, vicar of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: UOJ

The public organization of relatives of prisoners of war, 'Olenivka Community', urges President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and other government representatives to swap their relatives for "enemy agents". They have included the acting head of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed), in the list of candidates for exchange. The organization published the appeal on its Instagram.

In addition to Metropolitan Pavel, the wives and mothers of those who survived after the bombing of the prison in Olenivka propose to include Nestor Shufrych, Vyacheslav Bohuslaev, and "other collaborators, traitors, including Moscow priests", in the exchange list.

Recall that on the night of July 29, 2022, an explosion occurred in a barrack of the correctional colony in Olenivka, where Ukrainian defenders of Azovstal were located, resulting in the death of about 50 prisoners of war. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, this explosion was caused by the use of a reactive thermobaric grenade launcher.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has transferred the case of the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel of the UOC, on charges of justifying the aggression of the Russian Federation and discriminating against citizens, to court. He faces up to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property. Currently, the metropolitan is under house arrest.

As reported by the UOJ, on April 30, 2024, a judge of the Pechersk District Court changed the preventive measure and ordered the removal of the electronic bracelet from the acting head of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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