In a ruling of 23 May 2025 in case No. 243/4706/24 the Sloviansk City District Court of the Donetsk Region granted the prosecutor’s motion and extended Metropolitan Arseniy’s custody in Dnipro Penal Institution No. 4 by 60 days, to 21 July 2025 inclusive. No bail amount was set; the previous term was due to expire on 25 May. By the ruling, the preparatory hearing began on 22 May and was adjourned to the morning of 23 May.
The ruling records that the defence asked for release from custody, surety by people’s deputies, house arrest or bail, and that ten people’s deputies of Ukraine and one defence lawyer offered personal surety. The court refused all these motions, holding four of the risks listed in Article 177 of the Criminal Procedure Code to be real. It rejected separately a motion under Article 201 of the same code to change the measure of restraint: according to the ruling, it raised no new circumstances beyond those considered by the first-instance court on 27 March and the appeal court on 21 April.
According to the ruling, four of the five defence lawyers were present at the hearing. The defendant held that the motion could not be considered without the fifth and saw a breach of his right to defence; the court did not accept this, noting that the fifth lawyer had been notified and had filed no request to postpone.
The Svyatogirsk Holy Dormition Lavra, where Metropolitan Arseniy is superior, set out its version on its website: the hearing, it writes, went ahead without four of the five lawyers. The Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU) repeated this, citing the UOC’s Information and Education Department. According to the Lavra, the lawyers see this as a breach of the right to defence and are preparing appeals.
The Lavra, and RISU citing that department, gave the term as “to the end of July”; the ruling puts it at 21 July. According to the Lavra, the next hearing is set for 19 June 2025. An appeal against the ruling lies to the Dnipro Court of Appeal within five days. The charge is under part 2 of Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code; RISU describes it as unauthorised dissemination of information about the placement of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The ruling dates his custody from April 2024.
Sources: ruling of 23 May 2025, case No. 243/4706/24 (YouControl copy); Svyatogirsk Holy Dormition Lavra, 23 May 2025; RISU, 23 May 2025.
