Zelensky imposed sanctions against the nephew of the patriarch and 21 hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church

Sanctions were given to the chairman of the synodal department of the Russian Orthodox Church for relations between the church, society and the media Vladimir Legoyda, his deputy Vakhtang Kipshidze and 20 other hierarchs.Restrictions imposed for a period of five to 30 yearsVladimir ZelenskyVladimir ZelenskyVladimir ZelenskyVladimir ZelenskyVladimir Zelensky

Ukraine has imposed sanctions against 22 hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message posted on his TELEGRAM channel.

The President put into effect the relevant decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine "On the application of personal
special economic and other restrictive measures
(sanctions)" dated January 23. Among those sanctioned:

Vladimir Legoyda, Chairman of the Synodal Department of the Russian Orthodox Church for Relations between the Church, Society and the Media; Vakhtang Kipshidze, Deputy Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and Mass Media; representative of the Russian Orthodox Church at the World Council of Churches and other international organizations in Geneva, Mikhail Gundyaev (nephew of Patriarch Kirill).

The sanctions provide for the blocking of personal assets, as well as those that could be disposed of through third parties. Against Legoyda and Kipshidze they were introduced for five years.

With regard to six persons from the list - Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest and Hungary (Grigory Alfeev in the world), Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, Archbishop Pitirim of Syktyvkar and Komi-Zyryansk (Pavel Volochkov), Archpriests Artemy Vladimirov and Andrei Tkachev, professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexei Osipov, restrictions will be operate for 30 years.

Legoyda called the sanctions against religious leaders "nonsense" and "a rejection of common sense", noting the need to preserve channels of communication. The church cannot be intimidated by being put on “some lists,” he said.

Zelensky introduced the previous package of sanctions against Russians on January 7. Then the restrictions were extended to artists, including Philip Kirkorov, Dima Bilan, Polina Gagarina, Anna Semenovich, Evgeny Petrosyan.

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Earlier, Patriarch Kirill, entrepreneurs Roman Abramovich, Elena Baturina, the HEAD of Bashkiria Radiy Khabirov and his adviser Radik Yulyakshin (also known as Alvin Gray) fell under Ukrainian restrictions.

In September, Ukraine imposed sanctions on 606 representatives of the Russian political elite - 28 members of the Security Council, 154 members of the Federation Council and 424 State Duma deputies. In June, Zelensky imposed sanctions against President Vladimir Putin, Russian ministers and deputy prime ministers. They will operate indefinitely.