A court in Cherkasy has extended the pretrial detention of Metropolitan Theodosius of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

On June 9, the Sosnovsky District Court of Cherkasy ruled to extend the pretrial detention of Metropolitan Feodosy of Cherkasy and Kaniv, the administrator of the Cherkasy Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. According to the publication “Suspilne, ” the bishop will remain under personal recognizance and must fulfill the procedural obligations imposed on him for an additional 60 days.

During the hearing, Prosecutor Vadym Kolomiets insisted on extending the restrictions, arguing that there remains a risk that Metropolitan Theodosius “may abscond from the investigation, influence witnesses, or continue to commit offenses.” The prosecution also cited the decision of the appellate court, which in April 2026 (according to the case file) upheld the conviction for inciting interreligious hatred. “The risks that were identified continue to exist,” the prosecutor emphasized.

The metropolitan’s defense team and the bishop himself disagreed with the prosecution’s position. The lawyers noted that the witnesses had already been questioned and there was no risk of influencing them, and that expert opinions confirmed that the metropolitan’s statements did not contain calls for hostility but were an exercise of the right to freedom of speech. Metropolitan Theodosius himself, who participated in the hearing via video link, stated: “It is a matter of principle for me to see all these cases through to the end. If I were to leave and go into hiding, how could I then look my people in the eye?”

As a reminder, earlier the Cherkasy Regional Court of Appeal upheld the sentence against Metropolitan Feodosy (Snigirev), the head of the Cherkasy Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), for “inciting religious discord and hatred.” According to the investigation’s findings, the bishop was found guilty“of committing acts aimed at undermining interfaith peace in the region.”