SBU opens case against UOC cleric over disputed church property

Archimandrite Theognost. Photo: Left Bank

The press service of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) together with the National Police reported that they "exposed a cleric of the UOC (MP) for the illegal alienation of a church in the Kyiv region". He was charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: misappropriation or embezzlement of property through abuse of office and official forgery. The clergyman faces up to 12 years in prison.

According to the official statement from the SBU, the archimandrite first "donated" church buildings to his sister, who then transferred them to a charitable foundation controlled by the archimandrite himself. The SBU claims that through this scheme, the clergyman allegedly intended to unilaterally manage community property, including the possibility of selling or renting it out.

At the same time, the defense of the clergyman categorically rejects these accusations.

The law office of Nikita Chekman, representing the interests of Archimandrite Theognost (Volodymyr M. Yurash), the rector of St. Michael's parish of the Kyiv Eparchy of the UOC, states that the information disseminated is “distorted and does not correspond to reality”.

The defense emphasizes that the decision to alienate the property was made not unilaterally by the archimandrite, but by the general assembly of the religious community on May 22, 2023, in accordance with the statute and current legislation. According to the lawyers, the charitable foundation to which the property was transferred has every right to manage it according to the decision of the religious community itself, which was the legal owner of the church.

The lawyers also point out that on June 3, 2023, two weeks after the UOC community's vote, individuals who are not members of it decided to transfer the parish from the UOC to the OCU. This is currently being challenged by Archimandrite Theognost at the Economic Court of Kyiv.

The defense believes that the criminal proceedings may be related to a property dispute between religious organizations, as representatives of the OCU had previously approached the Boryspil District Court with a lawsuit to declare the property alienation agreement invalid.

Currently, the law firm is preparing documents aimed at confirming the absence of a criminal offense in the actions of the archimandrite.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the SBU conducted searches at the UOC Chancellor's office.

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