Metropolitan Onufriy attends a service at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on 13 August 2014. Photo: EPA/MAXIM MARUSENKO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree revoking the Ukrainian citizenship of Metropolitan Onufriy, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Wednesday.

According to the SBU, an investigation found that Onufriy, whose legal name is Orest Berezovsky, “willingly obtained Russian citizenship” in 2002 without informing Ukrainian authorities. This was illegal at the time, as Ukraine did not permit dual citizenship until a new law was passed in June to ease the restrictions.

In addition, Onufriy “deliberately opposed” the UOC’s acquisition of canonical independence, and continues to “maintain ties” with the Russian Orthodox Church and its Patriarch Kirill, known for his staunch support of the war, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the SBU said.

Responding to a request for comment regarding the SBU’s statements, a UOC representative denied the accusations and said Onufriy had “never applied to government agencies of other countries to obtain another citizenship”.

Previously, an investigation by independent newspaper Ukrainska Pravda in April 2023 found that Onufriy repeatedly obtained Russian identity documents, including foreign passports, in 1998 and 2003.

At the time, Onufriy did not deny having formerly possessed Russian citizenship, but stated that he had received it “de facto” after the collapse of the Soviet Union, before “renouncing” it as relations between Moscow and Kyiv deteriorated.

“I spoke out against Russia’s war with Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression. I consider myself a citizen only of Ukraine,” Onufriy said in 2023.

Although the UOC declared its “complete autonomy and independence” from the Moscow Patriarchate in May 2022, it is not technically an autocephalous religious body, meaning that it remains canonically subordinate to Moscow and recognised as part of the Russian Orthodox Church.

It is distinct from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), established in 2018 as a completely separate institution that has distanced itself as far as possible from the Russian Orthodox Church.

The OCU’s congregation is growing in Ukraine as more and more formerly UOC parishes realign themselves to fall under its authority. At the start of 2024, 29% of religious organisations in Ukraine were subordinate to the UOC, while the OCU controlled 22%.