Court extends 24-hour house arrest for Metropolitan Arseny, vicar of Svyatogorsk Lavra

The Chechelovskyy district court of Dnipro decided to extend the measure of restraint in the form of round-the-clock house arrest for Metropolitan Arseniy, the vicar of the Sviatogorsk Lavra. Despite the defense’s petitions to mitigate the conditions of detention, the court left the hierarch under arrest, while granting certain relaxations in terms of medical care.

According to the press service of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, the meeting was held on April 20, 2026. The prosecutor’s office demanded the extension of the current measure of restraint for another two months. In turn, the lawyers of the Metropolitan asked the court to replace the round-the-clock arrest at night or personal surety, pointing to the exemplary behavior of the Lord and the absence of violations over the past period.

Judge Tatyana Bezruk, having studied the case materials, decided to retain the round-the-clock house arrest. However, an important change was made to the decision: Metropolitan Arseny is allowed to undergo any medical procedures without obtaining special judicial authorization. Previously, this possibility was provided only for cases of emergency care. This decision is especially relevant given that the Metropolitan recently underwent heart surgery.

In addition, the court granted the defense’s demand for the return of the bail, which was made last fall by twenty donors. Numerous believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church came to the courthouse to support the Vicar of Lavra, and the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Victoria Hryb took part in the hearing via online conference.

We will remind, on March 18, 2026 in one of the clinics in Kiev Metropolitan Svyatogorskiy Arseniy underwent a planned heart surgery. The surgery was successful, despite the general weakened state of health of the hierarch after a long stay in custody.