Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian court rules Metropolitan Pavel to be under house arrest

A court in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has ordered a top religious leader to be placed under house arrest. The order comes amidst hearings to determine whether the leader glorified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and incited religious divisions.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Saturday issued a statement announcing that the court in Kyiv has ordered Metropolitan Pavel to be placed under house arrest and wear an electronic bracelet. Prosecutors said the house arrest and electronic bracelet are precautionary measures, with prosecutor Yevhen Zavistovskyi saying that the case against Pavel will move forward.

Ukrainian media outlets reported that Pavel was placed under house arrest for 60 days, which Pavel told reporters after the ruling that the order was “political.”

The decision by the Kyiv court follows the Ukrainian government’s efforts to crack down on the UOC on suspicion that it is pro-Russia and is collaborating with Moscow, which the UOC has denied. Pavel, who is the abbot of the historic Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, cursed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and threatened him with damnation. The Ukrainian government said the church must leave the monastery complex.

The Russian TASS news outlet said the Kyiv court ordered Pavel to live in a village around 40 kilometers southeast of Kyiv. TASS also reported that Pavel was denied permission to attend church services. Pavel said the house he was to reside in for house arrest was not liveable.

UOC has since maintained that it is loyal to Ukraine and even condemned Russia’s invasion. However, Ukrainian security agencies said some in the church had maintained ties with Russia and have previously raided sites of the church and shared photos of rubles, Russian passports, and leaflets with messages from the Moscow patriarch as proof of maintained ties with Moscow.

On Monday, the British defense ministry said the Russian defense ministry is carrying out an information campaign to revive the credibility of its 155th Naval Infantry Brigade, a unit that has been associated with Russia’s losses on the ground in Ukraine. Such efforts included a televised visit by a prominent Russian tv host, public announcements of the unit’s high morale, and photos showing the unit’s members equipped with modified battle tanks.

“The 155th has likely been reduced to combat ineffective status at least twice in the last six months, due to being committed to tactically flawed frontal assaults near Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast. The MOD’s effort to revive the brigade’s image likely reflects concern about the way in which its failures were being increasingly associated with Russian military leaders,” said the ministry.