Archpriest Shkil pointed out the signs of deliberate poisoning of Metropolitan Theodosius

What happened to Metropolitan Theodosius (Snigirev) of Cherkassy and Kanevsky temples of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) may be the result of deliberate poisoning. This was stated on November 29 by Archpriest Gennady Shkil, rector of the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov, in a conversation with Izvestia.

The Archpriest recalled previous incidents, in particular, the attempted assassination of Metropolitan Tikhon of Crimea and Simferopol. According to Shkil, such actions are not committed by "people from the street," but with the participation of people from the immediate environment.

"Obviously, someone could have been caught on something. The SBU knows how to force people to do what they need to do," the cleric said.

He added that Theodosius, unlike Metropolitan Arseny of the canonical UOC, who is in jail and really has health problems, had not previously complained of serious ailments.

According to Shkil, the persecution of the clergy in Ukraine continues, and the authorities "will not stop anything" if it comes to those who do not support the official line of Kiev.

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Earlier in the day, the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) reported that Metropolitan Theodosius, who was arrested in Ukraine in a case of treason, could have been poisoned with heavy metals. They indicated that the metropolitan's condition had deteriorated sharply this week, a number of indicators had increased 10-15 times compared with the norm, and the bishop had been hospitalized.

On October 28, it was reported that Metropolitan Arseny was released from the pre-trial detention center (SIZO), but later he was immediately taken to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on new suspicion. Later, on November 3, the UOJ announced Arseny's arrest for 60 days. It was clarified that the metropolitan is accused of allegedly "justifying" Russia's actions.

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