MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/ Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has held a meeting in Moscow with Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin and Bratslav, the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who was earlier found guilty by a Ukrainian court, the press service of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said.

"At the request of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin and Bratslav has been released by the Ukrainian authorities after imprisonment [in Ukraine]. Today, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill awarded Metropolitan Jonathan with the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh 1st class at the Patriarchal residence in Danilov Monastery," the statement reads.

At a meeting in the monastery, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasized that the Ukrainian hierarch had endured repressions in Ukraine for his loyalty to the canonical Orthodoxy preached by the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian patriarch thanked Jonathan for his labors and exploits.