In Cherkasy region, a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is being tried for personal correspondence on his phone

On May 30, 2025, the Smila Court in Cherkasy region held the first hearing in a criminal case against a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the village of Melnykivka. According to the investigation, the clergyman allegedly justified Russian aggression in Ukraine in private correspondence using messengers. This was reported by Suspilne.Cherkasy.

According to the prosecutor, the reason for announcing the suspicion against the priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was correspondence on his phone — the suspect received and sent messages in messengers justifying Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“Russian soldiers freed the world from fascism, Nazism, and other evil. I am infinitely grateful to God that I am Russian,” — prosecutor Kateryna Kostenko read from an example of a message from the correspondence.

According to her, the correspondence contains justifications for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which began in 2014, as well as glorification of individuals who committed armed aggression against Ukraine, which corresponds to the charge under Part 2 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In turn, the priest’s lawyer, who prohibited filming himself and his client, asked the court to soften the preventive measure to nighttime house arrest. According to him, round-the-clock arrest does not allow the priest to carry out his church activities.

“The prosecutor’s request for a preventive measure in the form of round-the-clock house arrest with the use of electronic monitoring for a period of two months, until July 29, 2025, inclusive, is granted,” — the court ruling states.