ROC

Russian Orthodox cleric stopped in Czechia over suspected drug possession

Police in Czechia stopped a car carrying Russian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Hilarion, who heads the church’s Czech branch, and found four small containers with a white substance during a search, according to a statement posted on Hilarion’s Telegram channel by his defense team on May 25.

25 May, 05:33 PM

Lavrov brands Ukraine, Europe ‘satanic’ and signals Russia won’t yield

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s latest accusations that Ukraine is persecuting Orthodox believers show the Kremlin is still relying on false religious narratives to justify its war and avoid meaningful peace talks, the Institute for the Study of War said on April 22.

23 April, 10:36 AM

Russian church school in Kyiv in full compliance with language law

Ukraine’s State Language Protection Commissioner Olena Ivanovska found no violations at an underground school operating at a Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) monastery in Kyiv, investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info reported on March 9.

9 March, 08:41 PM

ROC priest’s daughter sentenced to 15 years on espionage charges

A 22-year-old daughter of a priest with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in Donetsk Oblast has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for espionage, Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office announced on July 18.

19 July 2025, 01:14 AM

Metropolitan of Russian Orthodox Church in Luhansk sentenced in absentia to 11 years for aiding Russia

Vasyl Povorozniuk, a sanctioned metropolitan of the Luhansk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, has been sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison for collaborating with Russian occupying forces on temporarily seized Ukrainian territory, Ukraine’s SBU Security Service said on June 30.

30 June 2025, 02:04 PM

Former MP Novynskyi indicted for treason over alleged Russian Orthodox Church ties

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), in cooperation with Ukraine’s SBU Security Service, has accused former MP and pro-Russian Opposition Bloc member Vadym Novynskyi of treason, NV sources reported on Jan. 18.

18 January 2025, 04:34 PM

Russian soldiers sent to die in Ukraine with crosses bearing Putin’s initials

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin requested crosses with his initials for soldiers sent to Ukraine, the Kremlin confirmed via Russian media on Jan. 7.

7 January 2025, 11:56 AM

Zelenskyy discusses ROC ban with Archbishop of Constantinople

After the Ukrainian parliament passed a ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a phone conversation with the Archbishop of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

21 August 2024, 09:41 PM

SBU dismantles FSB-run clerical spy ring

Ukraine’s SBU security service has uncovered a criminal organization in Kyiv that spread pro-Kremlin narratives and incited religious hatred on the orders from Russia’s FSB, SBU’s press service reported via Telegram on March 12.

12 March 2024, 09:05 PM

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