Court releases Metropolitan Theodosius from nightly house arrest

On March 18, 2025, the Sosnovsky District Court of Cherkasy held a regular court hearing in one of the cases brought against the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkasy and Kaniv. The court took into account the opinion of the defense and released the bishop from serving nightly house arrest, releasing him on his own recognizance. This is reported by Suspilne.Cherkasy.

It is reported that prosecutor Vadym Kolomiets requested that the measure of restraint in the form of night house arrest be extended for two months. According to him, the risks have not changed, which means that the accused can hide from the investigation and influence witnesses. He also added that Metropolitan Theodosius “continues to commit the crimes of which he is accused.”

For his part, Metropolitan Theodosius rejected the prosecutor’s accusations, saying that he could not fully perform his duties due to nightly house arrest.

“I ask you to refuse the prosecutor’s office. I have been under house arrest for two years. In addition to this case, I have three other cases that have been fabricated by the SBU. And none of them has such a restriction, only this one has nightly house arrest. I cannot fully carry out my activities, as I can only leave the house at five in the morning. The Cherkasy diocese suffers from this. Obviously, the prosecutor does not even try to rewrite the petition, add something to it or remove obvious things. In short, the prosecutor is biased against this process and against me personally. He has pronounced anti-church remarks,” — the bishop said.

In the end, the court ruled to release Metropolitan Theodosius from the measure of restraint in the form of night house arrest, releasing the hierarch on his own recognizance.

As reported, on March 3, 2025, the Dnipro Court of Appeal completed consideration of the appeals of the lawyers of the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Arseny of Sviatohirsk. The new court ruling extended the bishop’s detention in the Dnipro pre-trial detention center for another 2 months.