Alexander Drabinko
Some time ago, Metropolitan Oleksandr Drabinko of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church posted photocopies of decrees dismissing him from his position as rector of the Church of All Saints of the Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Kyiv on his Facebook page, as well as a decree dismissing him from his position as head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, dating back to 2012. The media portrayed this as a struggle between the supposedly pro-Russian Metropolitan Onufriy and the most pro-Ukrainian archbishop in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. If the journalists knew what a dirty trick they were playing on the ideological opponents of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, I think they would think twice before writing such nonsense.
Alexander Drabinko has had a very colorful life. He began his ecclesiastical career at the Moscow Theological Seminary, from which he was quietly expelled in 1998 for homosexuality and promiscuity. He returned to Ukraine and, thanks to the patronage of his fellow countrywoman, the abbess of the Pokrovsky Convent, as well as certain personal qualities, quickly found himself in the entourage of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Vladimir, becoming his aide. At that time, the primate was still in good health.
Six years later, Drabinko was ordained a deacon. He received this rank without being a monk. In the church community, this isn't exactly considered an offense, but rather unsightly careerism. In July 2006, Deacon Alexander became not just an aide, but Metropolitan Vladimir's personal secretary. Drabinko's subsequent career advancement can confidently be included in the Ukrainian Book of Records (and perhaps even the Guinness Book of Records).
A month later, he was ordained a priest. Almost immediately, he was tonsured a monk. This opened the door to advancement into the higher clergy. Just eight days after his tonsure, Drabinko was elevated to the rank of hegumen. A few weeks later, to the rank of archimandrite. The subsequent nearly year-long hiatus ended in December 2007 with his reception of the coveted episcopal rank. Three years later, in December 2010, Alexander became an archbishop, and six months later, a permanent member of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Drabinko spent six years on a path that most priests cannot complete in a lifetime.
How did he manage it? Thanks to a double life, the other side of which remains a mystery to most Ukrainians. From the very beginning of his service to the head of the UOC, Drabinko began to create a barrier between Volodymyr and his entourage, his closest friends and associates. Very soon, he became the sole conveyor of the will of the head of the UOC. He spoke on his behalf, wrote official documents, concluded deals, managed finances. He even appointed himself to new positions.
For example, Drabinko's ordination to the rank of archbishop was quite interesting. After one of the services, held alone with the metropolitan, he simply walked out of the church and said, "Congratulate me—I'm now an archbishop." What actually happened in the church will probably never be known. When Drabinko was ordained as metropolitan, Bishop Vladimir was so weak that he couldn't place the white klobuk, the symbol of his rank, on him. This was a violation of the ritual. However, the newly appointed metropolitan didn't care.
In a short time, he gained such influence in the church that most were simply afraid to associate with him. Metropolitan Vladimir did nothing to put the arrogant careerist in his place. The higher Drabinko rose, the more intemperate and brazen he became. He humiliated everyone below him in rank and caused drunken brawls. He could go on drinking sprees for months. He treated Metropolitan Vladimir with utter insolence, not hesitating to shout at him in public. He spoke of him dismissively and mockingly behind his back.
From the very beginning of his career, Drabinko sought an idea that could provide him with a steady income. And he found one. He took over the construction of the main cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was intended to replace St. Volodymyr's Cathedral, which had been seized by Filaret's Church. Over nine years, the UOC church community raised over $82 million for the construction, yet the cathedral remains unfinished. Moreover, the unfinished building is in disrepair due to faulty architectural calculations and will likely never be completed. The new cathedral could have been a worthy monument to the late St. Volodymyr. But thanks to Drabinko's efforts, it has become a mockery of him.
Where some of the collected funds disappeared to, along with over 300 ounces of gold donated for the cathedral's domes, remains a mystery. However, it is known for certain that Father Alexander was actively assisted in the "appropriation" of these funds by the But brothers, Yuri and Sergei. Yuri But was a member of parliament from the Party of Regions at the time. Together, Drabinko organized two charitable foundations that controlled the funds raised for the cathedral, as well as a host of companies that served as contractors for the cathedral's construction.
Father Alexander also actively collaborated with Yanukovych-appointed Kyiv mayor Alexander Popov. Under the guise of cathedral construction, Drabinko and Buta's firms installed illegal utility lines and connected buildings to public utilities, circumventing official procedures, as Popov had pointed out. Drabinko also collaborated on many projects with Serhiy Arbuzov, when the latter held the positions of deputy prime minister and prime minister.
The cathedral, which was constantly under construction, wasn't Drabinko's only source of income. He made money wherever he could. He charged priests for ordination fees. He "oversaw" all matters requiring Metropolitan Vladimir's personal signature, especially during the bishop's illness. He also lobbied for personnel: he wrote petitions on Vladimir's behalf to the Cabinet of Ministers, the Presidential Secretariat, and other government bodies requesting the appointment of the right person to this or that position. He also appropriated large donations from private individuals to the UOC. But the money was always in short supply.
So Drabinko contacted the fraudster Natalia Panko. The case is well-known among the inner circles of the capital's wealthy. Panko swindled members of the Ukrainian elite out of at least $30 million and 20 million hryvnias. The fraudster claimed to be a novice at the Pokrovsky Monastery, while driving a luxury Lexus. She told her future victims that the church parish had a charitable foundation, citing a nonexistent Cabinet of Ministers decree that supposedly exempted such foundations from customs and excise duties.
Drabinko acted as guarantor in her dealings. Panko convinced clients that she could import premium cars into the country without paying the 22% duty. Others would be offered bargain-priced luxury real estate or oil products. Then it all followed a classic pyramid scheme. The sucker would cautiously provide the starting sum to test the business. And Panko would pay the interest on the specified dates or secure the purchase of apartments and cars at reduced prices. Panko created these "discounts" by adding her own money. The sucker would increase the "investment."
This went on for a month or two. Then temporary difficulties began, gradually turning into permanent ones. Concerned clients demanded their dues, and Panko asked for a little more money to pay off some outstanding deliveries so the scheme could resume operations more quickly. When even the additional infusions failed to help, the scammer swore by the health of her six-year-old child, who was already chronically ill, that she would pay everything back. Then she stopped answering calls.
Drabinko wasn't just in cahoots with Panko. His brother was responsible for transporting, counting, and storing the money received from duped investors. The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra or the Pokrovsky Monastery were often used for this purpose. After some time, Drabinko went from accomplice to victim. Panko swindled him out of a considerable sum and left the duped "investors" in serious jeopardy—she disappeared with all the money.
The ones left holding the bag were Drabinko and two nuns from the Pokrovsky Monastery, whom Panko had been surreptitiously using in her schemes. Sometime later, these nuns were kidnapped under very strange circumstances. Drabinko summoned them to his office in the middle of the night, but on their way back to the monastery, they disappeared. Sergei Bout, already known to us, was arrested on suspicion of the nuns' kidnapping and attempted murder. Apparently, Drabinko, with his help, decided to find out where Panko had gone and where he could now get money to pay off his angry "creditors."
A little later, Drabinko himself was arrested. During interrogation, he spilled his guts. The evidence obtained was enough for law enforcement to lock up the restless Father Alexander for decades. But Metropolitan Volodymyr intervened. He appealed personally to Viktor Yanukovych, and Drabinko was released. Not only was he released, but he was also assigned state security, declaring him a key witness. The fact is, by that time, the hunt for Drabinko was in full swing. Many of the swindled rich had invested almost everything they owned in Panko's schemes and now wanted to at least get even with him.
Yanukovych not only protected Drabinko from persecution but also dropped all his criminal cases. However, after the Revolution of Dignity, our controversial hero portrayed this protection as persecution and attempts to pressure him. Later, disgraced Prosecutor General Pshonka, who had fled the Maidan, wrote on Facebook that all of Drabinko's cases were archived and that, if desired, many interesting things could be learned from his testimony. However, few paid attention to these words.
Having declared himself a victim of the Yanukovych regime, Drabinko began actively seeking rapprochement with the new authorities and the new elites. He found a way to contact Kolomoisky and began actively "friending" journalists from Channel 1+1. This is understandable: Drabinko had already destroyed his authority within the Church under Yanukovych. At a meeting of the UOC Synod on February 21, 2012, Archbishop Alexander was stripped of some of his positions, as well as his status as a permanent member of the Synod itself. The memo accompanying this synodal decision stated that the reasons for his dismissal were "destructive actions and inappropriate behavior, intrigue, and lifestyle." So now Drabinko can only rely on the support of the secular authorities.
Incidentally, after his dismissal from his post as rector of the Church of All Saints, which he complained about on Facebook, Drabinko remains rector of three other UOC churches. The first is the Church of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in Kyiv's Pecherskyi district. It is the only church where Drabinko conducts services, although they are almost sparsely attended. The second is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Khodosivka near Kyiv. A luxurious three-story house has been built there, which Drabinko built for Metropolitan Volodymyr, but suddenly found himself its owner. The third is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district.
Meanwhile, seeing that the coveted position of primate in the UOC had eluded him, Drabinko approached the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church with a proposal to elect him as head of the church (the autocephalous churches recently held a council to elect a new head of the church). However, his candidacy was not considered. Representatives of the Kyiv Patriarchate are also in no hurry to invite him, although they are actively using him in their war with the UOC-MP. Drabinko has one trait that is useful for this: he soils everything he touches.
And so some media outlets are trying to mold this character into a new media hero. Clearly, the examples of Andriy Romanyuk, Vera Zavirukha, and the scandalous Tornado Battalion haven't taught them anything.
Anton Shchepotin for SKELET-info
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