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Orthodox priest charged with campaigning for Russia in Ukraine

Earlier, a metropolitan archbishop from one of the dioceses in the Vinnitsa region was charged with stirring religious hatred

KIEV, November 8. /TASS/. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has put a priest from one of the Orthodox churches in the Kharkov region on its wanted list, the agency’s press service reported on Tuesday.

According to the SBU’s Telegram channel, a priest from one of the churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in the Kupyansk district was rallying his parishioners to support Russia and engaged one of the local residents in this activity.

The SBU said that both individuals have left Ukraine. "Both subjects were informed of being suspects [in absentia] and they were listed as wanted," the statement reads.

This is not the first time that the SBU has opened cases against the UOC-MP’s clergy. Earlier, a metropolitan archbishop from one of the dioceses in the Vinnitsa region was charged with stirring religious hatred. SBU members also conducted searches in the Kirovograd and Aleksandria dioceses. The agency claimed that certain members of these communities were involved in spreading ideas infringing on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and igniting religious discord.