Photos of the Russian passport of Metropolitan Onufriy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine have surfaced – sources
Photos of the Russian passport of Onufriy (Orest Berezovsky), the Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), have appeared online. The photos confirm that he holds a Russian passport, a source told LIGA.net .
The documents clearly state "valid," indicating that the Russian passport is still valid.
Based on materials from the Security Service of Ukraine , Berezovsky's Ukrainian citizenship was terminated on July 2. The corresponding decree was signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy .
The SBU established that Berezovsky voluntarily obtained Russian citizenship in 2002. He did not inform the competent authorities of Ukraine about this. At the same time, he continued to use the status of a citizen of Ukraine thereafter.
In April 2023, journalists from Ukrainska Pravda conducted an investigation and stated that they had found Russian passports belonging to more than 20 priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, including Metropolitan Onufriy.
Reacting to the journalistic investigation, Onufriy commented that he does not consider himself a citizen of the Russian Federation.
In particular, Berezovskyi mentioned that he had served for a long time in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (Moscow region of Russia). But in 1988 he was transferred to Ukraine.
"At that time, the Soviet Union collapsed, and I, having been a de facto citizen of Russia before (because I had permanent registration in Russia, which in modern terms meant citizenship), took a Ukrainian passport. Russian citizenship was automatically renewed, but I wasn't interested in it and didn't use it; it didn't have any significance then, and no one was persecuted for it," Onufriy explained at the time.
Berezovsky added that he renounced his Russian citizenship after relations between Moscow and Kyiv deteriorated.
"I do not have a Russian passport. This was especially confirmed when I spoke out against Russia's war with Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression. I consider myself a citizen of only Ukraine," he said.
On June 23, 2025, Malyuk reported that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the SBU had initiated 174 criminal proceedings against priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). 122 clergymen have been notified of suspicion, and in 31 cases, guilty verdicts have been handed down.
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