Khrystofor Khrimli

Extra Bio Info:

Khrystofor Khrimli was detained for his religious belief and activity.

On September 18, 2023, Russian authorities in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine detained Khrimli, a priest of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), under unclear circumstances. OCU Metropolitan Bishop of Donetsk and Mariupol Serhiy Horobtsov said Khrimli had continued to engage in religious activities following Russian-backed separatists gaining control of parts of the Donetsk region in 2014. The bishop also alleged that Russian de facto authorities had pressured Khrimli to transfer to the Moscow Patriarchate. 

On October 3, 2023, Russian state media reported that a court in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region fined Khrimli 30,000 Russian rubles and expelled him from the Russian-occupied Donetsk region for violating Russia's religion law (Art. 5.26-5 RAC) by being a religious leader in the "extremist" and "anti-Russian" OCU, expressing support for Ukraine, and inciting hatred on religious and national grounds. However, OCU Metropolitan Bishop of Donetsk and Mariupol Serhiy Horobtsov claimed that Khrimli had not been expelled from Russian-occupied Donetsk and that relatives of the priest-who had visited him in a Donetsk pretrial detention center-had received information that he was being transferred to Russia. The bishop alleged that Russian authorities would pressure Khrimli to transfer to the Moscow Patriarchate.

In January 2024, Forum 18 reported that Khrimli was being held in a deportation center for foreigners near Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

In February 2024, Russia deported Khrimli to Georgia.

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