On February 6, 2024, Metropolitan Longin (Zhar) of Banchena said that he had been attacked. According to the bishop, the event took place on January 22 around 3 am. He told about it during a sermon on the day of the memory of Xenia of St. Petersburg.

“Everyone says that I am allegedly lying in the hospital, that I got sick from pills, got dizzy, fell twice, hit. Do not believe it, brothers and sisters. […] If you don’t know anything, it is better to keep silent and pray, brothers and sisters. I embrace you all, I love you”, – the bishop said.

It should be noted that earlier on the page of the Banchen Monastery in Facebook appeared a photo of bruises on the face of the bishop with the inscription “This is the price of purity of the Orthodox faith!”. At the same time, the UOC Information Center, clergymen and public figures began to spread information that the bishop fell in the hospital, hitting his face. However, the next day the same photo appeared on the page of the Banchen Monastery, only with a comment from the bishop that the event occurred “on the night of January 22, knocked 3 times on the door, and when I opened it, I received a blow, from which I lost consciousness. In the aftermath of the blow there was a surgical intervention (eyelid surgery)”.

Metropolitan Longin did not say under what circumstances the attack was committed and whether anyone is suspected in this atrocity.