(Kyiv) Ukraine announced on Saturday that it had initiated criminal proceedings against Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in absentia, for having “justified” the Russian invasion of his territory.
Patriarch Kirill, a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin, called Russia’s offensive against Ukraine a battle against “evil forces.”
Ukrainian authorities said in a statement that they had “collected evidence against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Gundyaev (known as Kirill)”.
He is a “member of the inner circle of senior military and political leaders of Russia and […] one of the first to publicly support the war against Ukraine.”
Kirill undermined Ukraine’s territorial integrity by justifying armed aggression, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“Steps will be taken to bring him to justice for the crimes committed against our state,” they added.
Ukraine, a predominantly Orthodox country, cut ties with Orthodox institutions linked to Russia after the start of the war.
In October, Ukraine’s parliament voted to ban a Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), accusing its members of collaborating with Russia.
Once the most popular in Ukraine, this Church has lost its followers for years as Ukrainian national sentiment has gained popularity in the face of former power Russia.
This process accelerated with the creation in 2018 of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent of Moscow.