Metropolitan Meletii (Valentyn Yehorenko), who was stripped of Ukrainian citizenship by President Volodymyr Zelensky on January 11, led a service at the Church of St. George in the town of Storozhynets in Bukovina on January 14.
This is reported by Espreso. Zahid.
“On January 14, on the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and Saint Basil the Great, Metropolitan Meletii of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna led the festive service. At the end of the service, Metropolitan Meletii congratulated the rector of the parish on his 60th birthday and presented a commemorative gift,” the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate) said in a statement.
It should be noted that the President by his decree put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council “On the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)”, which in particular target Metropolitan Meletii of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP).
Recently, on the territory of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the UOC (MP), the Security Service conducted a raid targeting Metropolitan Valentyn Yehorenko. Documents were found confirming the allegation that he holds Russian citizenship. According to security operatives, local clerics had been tasked with spreading disinformation about the socio-political situation in Ukraine and at the front lines.
In addition, during the inspection of the computers of the diocese’s leadership, photocopies of the IDs of Russian military who took part in hostilities against the Ukrainian troops were found. Among such documents is the “Hero of Russia” certificate, signed by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation for the “seizure of Crimea” in 2014. The Security Service has initiated criminal proceedings under high treason charges
However, this did not prevent Meletii, who is one of the tagets in the treason case, who now does not even have Ukrainian citizenship, from conducting religious services and spinning to the flock the narratives that, according to the SBU, can be qualified as disinformation, destabilization, or even treason.
