Metropolitan blessed military equipment and blessed the occupiers: Metropolitan dies in Crimea

Metropolitan Lazar, who supported the Russian annexation and blessed Russian military equipment, died in Crimea. His activities have long been associated with the occupation authorities and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This was reported by Krym. Realii.

Former Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea of the UOC-MP Lazar died in Simferopol at the age of 87. Lazar (Rostyslav Shvets) headed the Diocese of Simferopol and Crimea, and later the Crimean Metropolis of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate for more than three decades - from 1992 to 2023.

Metropolitan Lazar openly supported Russia's occupation and annexation of Crimea, welcomed the appointment of Aksyonov as head of the Crimean government, and did not condemn Russia's actions on the peninsula or its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Priests of his diocese regularly consecrated Russian military equipment and monuments, including armored vehicles in Kacha (2015), a monument to "polite people" (2016), S-400 air defense systems and flags of Russian warships (2017).

In 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine seized the property of the former metropolitan. It was seized under the law on sanctions for supporting the annexation of Crimea and the full-scale invasion of Russia, and Lazar himself faced liability for serious criminal articles.

On April 9, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine upheld the claim of the Ministry of Justice against Rostislav Shvets (Metropolitan Lazar) for sanctions. The court ordered the state to seize an apartment in Simferopol and four vehicles.

Metropolitan Lazar was sanctioned by the National Security and Defense Council on December 3, 2022. On January 7, 2023, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky issued a decree suspending the citizenship of 13 priests of the UOC-MP, including Metropolitan Lazar.

Last year, in Odesa, a priest of the Moscow Patriarchate was sentenced to real imprisonment for pro-Russian statements and justification of Russian aggression. Earlier, he was released from prison on probation. According to the case file, he had been promoting Kremlin narratives in private conversations for a long time, commenting on the war in Ukraine from the perspective of the aggressor state and shifting responsibility for Russia's strikes onto Ukrainians.

He was sentenced to five years in prison, confiscation of property, and a three-year ban on holding positions in government or local government.

Анна Бальчінос