Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra priest released on bail for "singing about Russia"
The Solomiansky District Court of Kyiv has released Father Zakharii (secular name: Anatolii Voitenok), a priest at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (the Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv), on bail until 29 January. Father Zakharii had led a service that involved the glorification of the so-called "Russian world". In doing so, the court granted a request made by investigators from the Prosecutor's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).
Source: courtroom journalist
Details: SSU investigators had informed Father Zakharii that he was under suspicion for justifying and denying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine – namely, through the singing of "chants about Russia" at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra during services led by him.
According to the investigation, on 12 November, Father Zakharii formed a criminal intent with respect to the singing of a chant justifying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine on the premises of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. At about 13:45, he sang a chant entitled "Theotokos" ["Mother of God"], which has a pro-Russian theme.
Prosecutor Serhii Pavlyk said that interrogations of witnesses, information from open sources (namely video recordings) and an expert analysis by the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Examinations all confirm that the words of "Theotokos", the chant sung at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, contained justification for Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine since 2014 and the occupation of part of Ukraine.
Pavlyk asked the court to select a measure of restraint for the suspect in the form of bail, noting the risk that Father Zakharii might flee and the possibility of material evidence being destroyed or distorted, obstructing the investigation. The investigators also asked the court to oblige the suspect to hand over his passports.
Father Zakharii denied in court that he had sung or even heard the chant. He also said he did not know the words and did not have a good singing voice.
Father Zakharii also confirmed that he has relatives in Russia and has travelled to occupied Crimea for medical treatment.
Quote from Father Zakharii in court: "We have an icon in the church, we gather there and read a prayer, we ask the Mother of God to cure people who are sick. Then we read prayers for the authorities, for the people, and for the army, that no bullets, shells or bombs will take them, so that everyone returns home unharmed."
Details: However, when we asked the priest to clarify which country and which "army" he prays for, and whether he recognised the fact of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, he did not answer.
Quote: "Then we have notes that we read, I go and take holy oil to anoint people. Sometimes there are 250 people, sometimes 40. Sometimes I listen [to them] for about 30 minutes, sometimes I listen for about 40. The people who sing are 15 metres away from me…
I listen to people. I anoint them, and one woman says, "Pray for me, I’m about to have an operation", a young couple come and say that they can't get pregnant, someone tells me their son is a drug addict, another person has a grandson who’s surrounded near Bakhmut. I don't listen to the people who are singing - I’m listening to people and comforting them…
My divine service ends with me giving people consolation and anointing them. And the people who are singing are doing it on their own."
Details: The priest's lawyers stated in court that in their opinion, there are no grounds for the suspicion and the risks it entails.
They insisted that none of the witnesses had confirmed that it was Father Zakharii who initiated the singing, and the chant was allegedly sung by the faithful themselves after the prayer service, during the anointing, and they had not received Father Zakharii's permission to do so.
In addition, the defence noted that at that time, there were five other clergy in the Lavra, and the words of witnesses to the effect that Father Zakharii allegedly should have been supervising the singing are valuable judgments.
Quote from Father Zacharii’s lawyer, Oleh Slobodianyk: "I don't think this chant justifies Russia's aggression.
If you can't notify me of suspicion for these words, then you can't do that to my client either."
Details: In addition, the defence lawyer noted that there were 150 people in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra while the singing was going on, and the investigators had not established the role of each of them, or exactly where Father Zakharii was at that time.
According to the lawyers, during his interrogation their client had insisted that he had never initiated these chants and had never justified the Russian aggression.
Quote from the defence lawyer: "Why hasn't the SSU compiled a list of prayers that have a double meaning since 24 February? And how could my client have known that this was Russian propaganda? After all, investigators had to conduct an expert examination to establish this. Why did they, if they think it is obvious?"
Details: During a break in the court hearing, Father Zakharii also refused to comment on the pro-Russian literature found in the Lavra and did not respond when asked whether he recognised Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.
Earlier, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate told Ukrainska Pravda that the video recording of the singing about "Mother Russia" in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was a provocation.
Previously: On 1 December, employees of the Security Service of Ukraine informed Father Zakharii that he was under suspicion for leading a service in which the "Russian world" was glorified.
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