The court claims he was sorry but nonetheless sentenced the man for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army.

A former priest has been sentenced in St. Petersburg, Russia, to three years in a general regime detention with a two-year ban on using the Internet, in a criminal case related to "fake news" about the Russian army.

The Joint Press Service of St. Petersburg courts said on its Telegram channel that during the trial, the prosecutor had requested a seven-year prison sentence for the monk. 

In his final statement, Ioann Kurmoyarov said that his motives were "purely religious." He mentioned that as a former priest and monk, he was deeply disturbed by the war taking place among Orthodox believers.

The criminal case against the monk in the Kalininsky District Court of St. Petersburg was brought about for a video he published in March 2022, in which he claimed that Russian servicemen killed in Ukraine, according to Scripture, would go to hell.

In the video, the man reflects about the war in Ukraine and argues that those behind the aggression would be denied walking into heaven. "Blessed peacemakers will be allowed to go to heaven, the 'blessed peacemakers' will end up. I mean servicemen who engage in peacekeeping, alright? Those who started aggression cannot be in heaven," he noted.

The court said, however, that the convict confessed to his “crime” and “admitted the guilt” – a reason why he would spend three, not seven years in prison.