Meletiy (Yehorenko)

Meletiy (Yehorenko)

Meletiy, Metropolitan of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna

(Secular name: Valentyn Volodymyrovych Yehorenko)

Date of birth: July 17, 1962

The ruling hierarch of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Chernivtsi region), Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the UOC.

He is being persecuted within the framework of state campaigns aimed at forcing a transfer to the structure of the OCU and dismantling the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, for his public defense of the right to freedom of religion and his criticism of crimes committed against UOC believers.

The persecution of Metropolitan Meletiy, Bishop Nikita (Storozhuk), as well as other clergy and faithful of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy, has been accompanied by an unprecedented wave of slander and a coordinated campaign of lies and discreditation involving certain media outlets and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

On the night of November 25, 2022, in Chernivtsi, multi-hour searches were conducted at the diocesan administration (Consistory) of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy. The searches were carried out by SBU officers in full combat gear.

The security forces forcibly broke into the premises without prior warning, despite the fact that no one intended to obstruct the searches.

Clergy and monastics residing in the Consistory were forced out of their cells and lined up against a wall. Priests and monks dragged out of their beds were not even allowed to get dressed.

They were deliberately lined up in a humiliating position, virtually on broken glass. SBU representatives then proceeded to photograph them.

(Source: UOJ)

It is notable that operational photographs from the searches – which could only have been taken by SBU officers or individuals accompanying them – were immediately published, without any blurring, on several information websites known for their anti-church propaganda.

The most resonant publication appeared on the website of the outlet Livyi Bereh (“Left Bank”). In addition to unlawfully published photographs, it contained defamatory statements against Bishop Nikita. A fabricated allegation damaging to the bishop’s dignity was later ordered by a court to be retracted.

(Source: UOJ)

On December 5, 2022, the same propaganda outlet Livyi Bereh published a report claiming that during the SBU search of the diocesan administration, pornographic materials involving minors (child pornography) were allegedly found on a seized “laptop,” which, according to “preliminary data,” had not been downloaded from the internet but recorded on a video camera.

(Source: Livyi Bereh)

The publication, which cooperates with the SBU, claimed that “according to sources, this concerns the head of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna diocesan administration, Metropolitan Meletiy (Yehorenko), and the secretary, Archimandrite Nikita (Storozhuk).”

No evidence was provided to support these claims. As far as is known, no investigative or, all the more so, judicial proceedings involving these bishops have taken place. At the very least, the named hierarchs have not been participants in any such proceedings.

The same article stated that on November 30, 2022, the SBU in Chernivtsi region allegedly entered information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, opening criminal case No. 22022260000000116 against “unidentified persons” of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC, alleging elements of a criminal offense under:

Article 301-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (accessing child pornography, its acquisition, storage, import, transportation or other movement, production, sale, or distribution).

On December 11, 2022, by decree of President Volodymyr Zelensky, in accordance with a decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), personal sanctions were imposed against Metropolitan Meletiy.

(Source: Office of the President of Ukraine)

According to media reports, by another decree dated December 28 (Decree No. 898/2022), President Zelensky “suspended” the Ukrainian citizenship of the hierarch.