The court has again extended Metropolitan Arseny's arrest for two months

The Sloviansk City District Court of Donetsk Oblast extended the detention of Metropolitan Arseniy of Svyatogorsk in a pre-trial detention center for another 60 days, until September 29. Prior to this, the bishop had been behind bars for eight days without a court order, and his imprisonment has been ongoing since April 25, 2024. This was reported by the press service of the Svyatogorsk Lavra.

According to the press service of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, under Ukrainian law, it is unacceptable to hold a person in custody without a valid court order, except in cases of arrest at the scene of a crime or immediately after it. Between July 22 and August 1, there were no official arrests of Metropolitan Arseny. Lawyers repeatedly submitted petitions to the investigating judge of the Chechelivsky District Court of Dnipro, which has jurisdiction over the Dnipro prison, requesting the release of the bishop. However, these petitions have not yet been considered.

On August 1, at the prosecutor’s request, a new motion was filed to extend the preventive measure in the form of detention. The court granted this motion, extending Metropolitan Arseniy’s arrest for 60 days — until September 29, 2025, inclusive, without the possibility of bail.

At the same time, the court rejected all motions of the defense, including changing the preventive measure to personal surety of ten people’s deputies of Ukraine, applying bail, or appointing another alternative preventive measure.

On July 17, 2025, the Commercial Court of Kyiv issued a ruling denying the claim to cancel the illegal re-registration of the Holy Ascension Religious Community of the UOC in the village of Stebliv, Cherkasy region, in favor of the OCU, which resulted in the seizure of the local Ascension Church of the UOC.