The British authorities have included in the sanctions list the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, as well as the Russian children's ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. This is stated on the website of the British government.

They are prohibited from entering the UK. Sanctions also include the freezing of assets and the restriction of doing business with organizations that are associated with people from the "black" list.

On May 31, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, stated that Patriarch Kirill (Vladimir Gundyaev) should be included in the "black list" of the European Union (EU). However, this was opposed by Hungary.

Pope Francis said that Patriarch Kirill, during a conversation via video link, read from a piece of paper for twenty minutes and gave arguments justifying Russia's war against Ukraine. Later, the Russian Orthodox Church published a speech by Gundyaev, in which he, addressing the Pope, spoke about the "flying time of missiles" and the expansion of NATO.

In April, 190 priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate demanded that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia be brought before a church tribunal (meaning the Cathedral of the Primates of the Ancient Eastern Churches). Ukrainian priests decided to file a lawsuit due to Patriarch Kirill's support for Russia's war of conquest against Ukraine. Among the accusations leveled against him are the preaching of the “Russian world” doctrine, which is inconsistent with Orthodox teaching, and “moral crimes”: the blessing of the war against Ukraine and its full support.