Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill reported suspicion by the SBU

The SBU and the Prosecutor-General's Office have collected evidence against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Gundyayev (Kirill), who promotes the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and denies war crimes of the occupants. This is reported by the SBU.

According to the investigation, Patriarch Kirill is a member of the inner circle of Russia's top military and political leadership and was one of the first to publicly support a full-scale war against Ukraine.

To spread propaganda, he massively uses religious communities of the Russian Orthodox Church under his control on the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of the UOC-MP in Ukraine," the report said.

In addition, Gundyaev regularly spreads the Kremlin's narratives in the form of online sermons or his own video commentaries.

In particular, it is documented that in March 2022, the ROC website published an "article" about a liturgy where Gundyaev blessed Russian Rosguard commander Zolotov for war against Ukraine.

Also in late February 2023, the official YouTube channel of the Russian Orthodox Church published a video in which Gundyaev justifies the occupation of eastern Ukraine.

In addition, the patriarch repeatedly gave comments to propagandists from Russia's central TV channels, in which he supported the Kremlin's aggressive policy and called on believers to unite in the war against Ukraine.

The expert examination confirmed the facts of criminal activity of the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

On the basis of the collected evidence Gundyaev is reported on suspicion under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• ч. 3 Art. 110 (encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine);
• ч. part 3 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition of lawfulness, denial of the armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine, glorification of its participants);
• ч. 5 of article 27 and part 2 of article 437 (planning, preparation, unleashing and waging a war of aggression).

Complex measures to bring the defendant to justice for crimes against Ukraine are being continued.