The Prosecutor's Office Has Announced Suspicion Against the Kemerovo Metropolitan of the ROC
Prosecution charges the hierarch with using church authority to collect donations and provide material support for the military.
The Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor's Office has notified in absentia the head of the Kuzbass Metropolis of the ROC, Metropolitan Aristarchus (Smirnov), who is accused of financing and providing material support to Russian military formations.
According to the statement, since February 2022 the hierarch has used his religious authority to organize assistance to servicemen of the Russian Federation. Case materials indicate that the metropolitan, personally and through a system of delegated instructions, ensured the transfer of equipment, vehicles, goods, and humanitarian cargo for the needs of the army.
Law enforcement officials also charge the head of the metropolis with organizing large-scale resource supplies, collecting donations, and establishing special funds to finance military procurement. According to the investigation, the material resources provided were used by representatives of the armed formations of the Russian Federation to seize territories of Ukraine.
At present, the hierarch is on the territory of Russia, which is why the suspicion notice was served in absentia; operational support for the case is being provided by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Cherkasy Oblast. Prosecutors noted that the sanction under Part 3 of Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides for a penalty of imprisonment for a term of six to eight years with confiscation of property.
As the Union of Orthodox Journalists (SPJ) previously reported, the SBU notified an ROC metropolitan of suspicion in absentia.
