Metropolitan Arseniy, superior of the Svyatogirsk Holy Dormition Lavra, has been under measures of restraint since the spring of 2024. On 23 October 2025 an appellate court in Dnipro ordered his release on bail; but, as the Church’s information service reports, on 28 October, immediately after he left the remand prison, he was detained again in connection with a fresh notice of suspicion. On 3 November 2025 the Soborny District Court of Dnipro ruled that he be held in custody for a further 38 days, and in December and January that term was twice extended.
On 25 February 2026 the Chechelivskyi District Court of Dnipro replaced custody with round-the-clock house arrest, on 20 April extended it, and on 11 June 2026 confined it to the hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. His health was a separate matter before the court: on 15 December 2025 the court ordered the remand prison hospital to examine him, on 18 March 2026 he underwent heart surgery, and at the June hearing the defence relied on his cardiac surgeons’ recommendation that he walk in the open air during his recovery.
On 1 November 2025 the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church addressed an open letter to the President of Ukraine asking him to assist in the Metropolitan’s release from custody for treatment and surgery. There is no verdict in the case, and he does not admit guilt. The substance of the charge is not set out in the church reports on which we rely, and we found no statement of the prosecution’s position outside the courtroom.
Sources: Information and Education Department of the UOC, 1 November 2025; the same department, 3 November 2025; the same department, 25 February 2026; the same department, 11 June 2026.
