More than 20 high-ranking clergymen of the Ukrainian-affiliated branch of the Russian Orthodox Church are Russian citizens, an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda reported on April 7.
They include Metropolitan Onufrii, known in civilian life as Orest Berezovskyi, who heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian media outlet reported, and citing database data from the Rospasport Russian passport service.
High-level corruption in Russia has allowed for numerous investigations by media outlets and non-profit groups to purchase personal information from various government databases to track asset ownership, espionage abroad and other data.
The Russian church’s network in Ukraine has been suspected of aiding and abetting Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.