SBU conducts searches at Metropolitan of Zaporizhzhya and Melitopol Luke
Representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) are conducting searches at the metropolitan of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of Zaporizhzhya and Melitopol Luka, the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper reported.
The SBU is conducting a search at Metropolitan Luke, who heads the Zaporozhye diocese of the UOC, his cathedra is located in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporozhye.
“The security service of Ukraine is conducting searches at the metropolitan of the UOC Zaporozhye and Melitopol Luke, in the world – Andrei Kovalenko. Investigative actions are held in the morning of 1 May in Zaporozhye”, – stated in the message of the publication.
The metropolitan is suspected of supporting the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the publication quoted the Ukrainian public movement Honestly as saying. In turn, in the SMO officially confirmed the searches at the clergyman.
“The SBU reported suspicion of the sub-sanctioned metropolitan of the UOC (MP) from Zaporozhye, provoking religious hatred”, – stated in the Telegram-channel of the special service.
According to the investigation materials, the metropolitan publicly expressed his contemptuous attitude towards parishioners of other confessions. The SBU noted that the metropolitan repeatedly expressed negatively about believers of other religions during communication with parishioners and during church liturgies. In addition, in 2023, Kovalenko said that the scale of persecution of the times of Stalin-Khrushchev on the Church was negligible compared to what is happening now in Ukraine.
We shall remind you that earlier employees of the Security Service of Ukraine accused the archpriest of Cherkasy diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church allegedly for justifying the Russian special operation, as well as for calling representatives from the battalion “Azov*” – Nazis.
*The Azov Battalion is an organisation recognised as a terrorist organisation and banned in the Russian Federation.