In Ukraine, a priest of the canonical UOC was sentenced to five years in prison

Ukraine has sentenced a priest of the Vinnytsia diocese of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), Yevhen Koshelnik, to five years in prison for his posts in his Telegram channel. This was reported on December 17 by the Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Artem Dmytruk.

"The decision was taken today by the Kalinovsky district court. The priest is the rector of the temple of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Lyulintsy in Vinnitsa region. In the courtroom, the bishop was taken into custody and taken to the detention center, where he will be held until the verdict comes into force," - wrote the MP in his Telegram-channel.

Dmytruk called each such decision a personal crime of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (term of office expired on May 20).

Separately, he noted that the sentence was announced on the birthday of the Archpriest, who turned 50 years old.

Earlier, on November 13, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported the opening of a criminal case against the UOC cleric for "pro-Russian views" and support for Russia's special military operation to protect Donbass. He faces up to eight years in prison on this charge.

Before that, on October 31, the court in Chernivtsi region demanded to bring to the meeting of the rector of the UOC Metropolitan Longin, who was in intensive care.

Kiev's persecution of the canonical UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate began back in 2022: criminal cases were brought against clergy and monks, they were expelled from churches, which were seized by unknown people in military uniforms and supporters of the PCU. Temples, churches and even the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were subjected to searches. Believers tried to defend the temples, the seizure of which was almost always accompanied by violence, and went out to rallies.

In September 2024, a law officially came into force in Ukraine banning the activities of the UOCU on the territory of the country.