Metropolitan Luke seeks to recover 1 hryvnia for slander from Cherkasy mayor in court

On May 15, 2025, the Prydniprovsky District Court of Cherkasy held a hearing on the lawsuit filed by the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, against the mayor of Cherkasy, Anatoliy Bondarenko, and the Vikka TV channel. The hierarch sued the mayor and the TV channel for spreading slander against him. This was reported by the regional publication Vicherpno.

It is reported that the meeting was preparatory. The prosecution wants to oblige Anatoliy Bondarenko to refute the information he said on the TV channel. They also want to collect UAH 1 in moral compensation from him and Vikka TV channel. In their turn, neither Bondarenko nor the management of Vikka TV channel admit their guilt.

Earlier, we reported that the General Director of the Cherkasy TV channel Vikka, Serhiy Kuzlyaev, was outraged that the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, had filed a lawsuit against the media for spreading false information about the bishop on one of their TV programs. Kuzlyaev is annoyed that the UOC hierarch is “raising his head” in an attempt to defend his honor and dignity in court.