Truth will set you Free
Nadia Stephen Publisher
Kyiv 11 Apr 2023
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At least 20 priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, an affiliate of the Russian Orthodox Church, have Russian passports, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
The information reportedly comes from Rospassport, a Russian state database.
According to it, Metropolitan of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Onufriy, whose secular name is Orest Berezovsky, received a Russian passport on March 20, 2002, in Moscow, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
The following year, Onufriy allegedly obtained a Russian foreign passport. This appears to be the second Russian foreign passport of Onufriy, with the first one issued in 1998. This means he has had Russian citizenship since at least the late 1990s.
After the investigation aired, Onufriy put out a statement saying that he no longer has his Russian citizenship but provided no details on when he lost it.
In a 2015 interview, Onufriy called the Russian war in the Donbas a “civilian war.” He later publicly condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Read more: SBU finds Russian passports, propaganda at premises of Moscow-affiliated church
Another priest who allegedly has a Russian passport is Bishop Hedeon, also known as Yuriy Kharon, the vicar of the Desyatinniy Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is linked with Russia.
According to the extracts from Rospassport, Hedeon received a Russian passport in Moscow in 2019. The following year, he got two Russian foreign passports.
Ukrainska Pravda also obtained a video showing a person resembling Hedeon participating in the Christmas service in Kazan, a city in southwest Russia, a year after Russia unleashed its all-out war against Ukraine.
Hedeon’s visit to Russia on Jan. 8, 2022, was confirmed to Ukrainska Pravda by sources in law enforcement. A Russian media outlet also reportedly mentions his participation in the service.
Oleh Ivanov, the former Metropolitan of Izium and Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, received a Russian passport in December 2022, according to documents obtained by Ukrainska Pravda.
The publication reported that Ivanov collaborated with Russian occupation authorities in Izium and fled to Russia after the Ukrainian army liberated the city.
The priests that Ukrainska Pravda was able to contact either denied having Russian passports or refused to comment.