"Don’t let this death be silenced": global reaction to murder in Sviatohirsk
Following the murder of monk Varsonofiy at the Sviatohirsk Lavra, there has been no notable reaction from Ukrainian authorities. Orthodox Christians from different countries, however, do not remain silent. Increasingly, they are raising questions about the years-long campaign against the UOC against the backdrop of which this crime occurred.
The facts of the crime
On August 23, 2026, at around 11:00 a.m., a group of unidentified individuals attacked members of the monastic community on the grounds of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra. Monk Varsonofiy (Turiansky) was killed, while Monk Gregory and Andriy Kyriienko, who resides at the monastery, sustained serious injuries.
A subsequent forensic examination established that Father Varsonofy died from a through-and-through gunshot wound to the head and neck. A criminal investigation has been opened, but the identities of the attackers and the final motive for the crime have not yet been officially established.
One of the injured men, novice Andriy Kyriienko, said that three servicemen attacked him with knives after he responded to the greeting "Glory to Ukraine!" with "Glory to our Lord God. Save and protect." According to members of the monastic community, there are grounds to believe that a similar exchange took place with Monk Varsonofiy before his murder.
Media reaction
Secular Ukrainian media only began reporting on the incident a full day later. TSN published the news on August 24 at 10:45 a.m., Ukrainska Pravda at 11:13 a.m., and RBC-Ukraine not until 2:28 p.m.
Moreover, those secular media outlets that did report on the crime largely limited themselves to recounting the attack and providing updates on the condition of the victims. In the materials we found from these outlets, there were no calls to solve the crime and punish those responsible, nor any mention of religious hatred as a possible motive. High-profile crimes typically generate a wave of similar coverage in the Ukrainian media. But not when the victim is a UOC monk.
Nor did the story become a notable topic in opinion columns, political talk shows, or public statements by current state leaders. It remained merely a brief crime report.
Even more striking is the silence of the authorities.
On August 25, the police confirmed that information about the attack had been entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations (URPI) under articles concerning intentional murder and attempted murder. However, this information also became public only in response to an inquiry from a media outlet.
On August 24–25, including in connection with Independence Day, numerous reports, statements, and messages from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were published on the official website of the President of Ukraine. However, none of them addressed the murder at the Sviatohirsk Lavra.
We also found no public statement from the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada. The official parliamentary news feed during those days featured reports on meetings involving parliamentary leaders, statements by lawmakers, legislative initiatives, and other events, but the Sviatohirsk Lavra was not mentioned. Nor was there any public reaction from the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
But most telling of all is the silence of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) – the government body directly responsible for religious affairs. It is difficult to imagine DESS remaining equally silent if a member of the clergy of any other religious denomination had been killed.
Prayer and solidarity
The Orthodox world, both in Ukraine and beyond its borders, reacted in an entirely different manner to the murder of Fr. Varsanofiy.
Metropolitan Rastislav, Primate of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, stressed that "a holy place where monastic labors are carried out and where prayer to the Most Pure Theotokos is always kept alive has become a place of bloodshed – a manifestation of human malice and the devil’s hatred."
Metropolitan Nicholas, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, addressed Metropolitan Arseniy, abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, and the monastic brotherhood: "Today, as a new tragedy has touched the brotherhood of Sviatohirsk, we once again feel ourselves standing beside you – not only in heart but also in prayer."
Metropolitan Timotheos of Bostra of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem called for the perpetrators to be punished and pointed to the atmosphere in which the crime took place: "In recent years, a grave atmosphere has developed around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church: its faithful have often been spoken about publicly in ways one should not speak about fellow citizens and fellow believers, and the harshness of such rhetoric has long ceased to trouble anyone."
Metropolitan Isaac of Germany and Central Europe of the Patriarchate of Antioch demanded that "the truth about this terrible crime come to light and that justice prevail."
The Chancery of Metropolitan Sawa, Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church, expressed condolences over the murder of Fr. Varsonofiy: "Raising one’s hand against another person is also a tragedy." The Polish Church also said that it was praying not only for the murdered monk but also for those responsible for this crime, so that they might realize what they did.
Archimandrite Nazary Basilaya of the Georgian Orthodox Church described the attack on the residents of the Sviatohirsk Lavra and the murder of monk Varsonofiy as a tragedy that deeply affected the clergy and all Christians. "We, as clergy from a brotherly country, sympathize and share the great sorrow that has befallen the Lavra," Fr. Nazary said.
Clergy of the Church of Greece also condemned the murder of Fr. Varsonofiy, including Archimandrite Ephraim (Avramidis), Archpriest Georgios Katsaounis, and Priest Andreas Evangelatos. Archimandrite Chrysostomos (Nesic), a cleric of the Serbian Church, called the monk’s murder a “Cainic sin.” Bulgarian priest Vasiliy Dimitrov, Albanian theologian Dr. Themistocles Bambulla, who called the murder a wound for the entire Church, and Greek theologian Georgios Foundoulakis also spoke out. Bulgarian theologian Georgi Todorov described the silence around the murder at the Sviatohirsk as a grave sin.
However, support for the brotherhood of the Sviatohirsk Lavra came not only from Orthodox Christians. Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, Archbishop of Belgrade of the Roman Catholic Church, like Georgi Todorov, said that silence about the murder was unacceptable. The crime was also condemned by Catholic bishops in the Czech Republic — Bishop Tomáš Holub of Plzeň and retired Bishop Václav Malý.
German Protestant theologian Dr. Heinrich Derksen and Dr. Irina Volfson also spoke out. Church media in other countries have also begun reporting on the tragedy, including the Greek portal Romfea, Bulgaria’s Hristonostsi, and North Macedonia’s Liturgija.
"Do not let this death be silenced"
The statements called for the crime to be solved and for the tragedy not to disappear from the public eye.
Metropolitan Antony (Pakanych), UOC Chancellor, posed the question bluntly: "Does anyone have the right to kill with impunity simply because another person is of ‘a different faith’?” He urged: “Don’t let this death dissolve into the cold indifference of society."
Bishop Job of Stuttgart stressed: “The ruthless and, I can only assume, unpunished killing of a representative of a Church that for many years has been on the verge of a state ban in Ukraine takes us in our thoughts back to the days of early Christianity, when adherents of a religio illicita – a forbidden religion – could and were expected to be eliminated for the good of society.”
"When a person is taught for years to see a brother as an enemy"
But the most significant part of the statements concerns more than simply finding the murderers. Orthodox hierarchs are raising questions about the social climate in which the crime took place.
Metropolitan Antony recalled the seizures of churches, legislative pressure, and the information campaign against the UOC. In his view, this has resulted in its faithful being treated as second-class citizens.
Metropolitan Timotheos of Vostra was even more direct. He described the murder of Father Varsonofy as a predictable result of a years-long campaign of harassment and incitement of hatred against the UOC: "When a person is taught for years to see an enemy in a baptized brother, sooner or later someone will inevitably take this idea to its extreme."
Bishop Job of Stuttgart drew attention to the media reaction: "We are witnessing... relative silence from the Ukrainian media and complete silence from the German media." He attributes this to the fact that the victim belonged to the "wrong" Church, from the perspective of Ukrainian nationalism.
On September 7, Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv put the point particularly bluntly: "Politicians and the media in Ukraine have today incited such strong hatred toward the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that simply being a member of it... is already dangerous."
Hatred toward the UOC was fueled not only by politicians. Actors, bloggers, public figures, journalists, and many others were also involved. We will not list all instances of verbal aggression and calls for violence against the UOC. But one episode is nevertheless worth recalling.
On December 7, 2022, Kvartal 95 actors Oleksandr Pikalov and Yevhen Koshovyi, in an episode of Bayraktar News, offered viewers a peculiar joke "price list": "Spit on a UOC-MP priest — 20 hryvnias... slap him on the left cheek and automatically on the right – 100 hryvnias." On December 10, the videos were posted on YouTube channels associated with Kvartal 95. The UOC regarded these statements as propaganda of physical violence against clergy and appealed to law enforcement authorities.
The police response was extremely sluggish. Criminal proceedings were registered only on March 10, 2023 – three months later – and only after the investigator’s inaction was challenged in court. A linguistic examination was ordered, but by December 2024, its findings had still not been provided to UOC representatives, the complainants had not been questioned, and no charges had been brought against Koshovyi or Pikalov. We were unable to find any later public information indicating significant progress in the investigation. In short, the case was allowed to quietly fizzle out.
Of course, there is no direct causal link between Koshovyi and Pikalov’s "price list" and the murder of monk Varsonofiy. But this episode, as well as the law enforcement response to it, illustrates well the atmosphere of hatred and impunity that has developed around the UOC. This is precisely what Orthodox hierarchs mean when they say that the image of an “enemy Church” has been created over many years.
Was the monk in Sviatohirsk killed by hatred?
In the first days and weeks after the tragedy, social media users began suggesting that the crime had been committed by an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group.
In this context, it is worth citing a statement by Brigadier General and Commander of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade Andrii Biletskyi, who commented on claims by the Russian leadership that Sviatohirsk had been captured.
He stressed that the Sviatohirsk Lavra is located in the rear of Ukrainian forces, where Russian soldiers could not have entered in the first place: "It’s not just that there have never been Russian soldiers in Sviatohirsk... Everything is fine here," Biletskyi said. "The city of Sviatohirsk is located within the defensive line of the 60th Mechanized Brigade of the 3rd Army Corps. It is the rear area of our corps."
Of course, the investigation will provide the final answer if any. At the same time, Andrii Biletskyi’s words give us reason to reflect.
A few words on martyrdom
Some of the statements by Orthodox hierarchs also touch on the martyrdom of monk Varsonofiy. Metropolitan Nicholas, First Hierarch of the ROCOR, described his death as martyrdom. Bishop Job of Stuttgart clarified that if the accounts of the victims are accurate, it could be understood as martyrdom in the original sense of the word — the Greek μάρτυς means “testimony,” in this case a testimony to Christ.
Metropolitan Theodosiy goes even further: "I believe that the monk of the Sviatohirsk Lavra who was killed for glorifying the name of Christ has today joined the ranks of the martyrs of our Church."
The Sviatohirsk Lavra quotes Fr. Varsonofiy’s final words: "Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ!.. I am a monk."
Of course, calling for the canonization of Fr. Varsonofiy at this stage would be premature: we do not know all the circumstances of what happened. But the very fact that the murder at the Sviatohirsk Lavra is being discussed in these terms is quite telling. It shows that Orthodox Christians see what happened as more than simply a criminal incident or a tragic turn of events but as something much deeper.
In Lieu of a Conclusion: The enemy image brings death
The investigation has yet to establish either the identities of those who killed Fr. Varsonofiy or the final motive for the attack.
But it would be a mistake to view the tragedy in Sviatohirsk outside the context of Ukraine’s state religious policy in recent years. This policy, along with much of the public rhetoric surrounding it, has consistently portrayed the UOC not as a Church but as a threat to national security, a source of disloyalty, and an instrument of hostile influence. The episode involving Kvartal 95 is a particularly striking example of how far this rhetoric went: the physical humiliation of a priest became the subject of a public joke.
Such rhetoric shapes public consciousness: if the UOC is called an enemy for years, its clergy are branded “Moscow priests,” and its faithful are portrayed as adherents of the “Russian world,” then violence against them can begin to seem not like a crime but an act of patriotism.
An artificially created image of the enemy can become deadly. The seeds of hatred sown by the authorities bear terrible fruit. Instead of bringing society together, they divide it into warring camps. What more must happen before the authorities realize that Ukraine is paying too high a price for attempts to turn its own Church into an internal enemy?
