Metropolitan Arseny's defense challenged the judge during the hearing on extending his arrest

During the court hearing in the case of the vicar of Sviatogorsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy, which took place on September 24, 2025, the defense side challenged the presiding judge. The reason was the continuation of the hearing during an air raid and in the absence of part of the lawyers, which was regarded as a violation of the right to defense.

According to the website of the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra, the hearing was held in the Slavyansk City District Court of Donetsk region. At its beginning, the lawyers unsuccessfully tried to challenge the new prosecutor. Judge Tetyana Haustova also rejected defense motions to cancel the change of the group of prosecutors and to return the indictment because of its inconsistency with procedural norms.

The key moment came during the consideration of the prosecutor’s office’s motion to extend Metropolitan Arseny’s measure of restraint in the form of detention, which expires on September 29. Despite the announcement of an air raid and the absence of several defense attorneys, the judge did not call a recess. In response, the lawyers present challenged her to immediately stop the violation of their client’s right to full legal assistance. The date of consideration of the application for recusal of the judge has not yet been set.

Recall that the Vicar of Svyatogorsk Lavra is in the pre-trial detention center of the city of Dnipro since April 25, 2024. On September 25, 2025 in the Dnipro Court of Appeal is scheduled to consider appeals against the decision of the court of first instance to keep the vicar in custody.

We will remind, the hierarch of the UOC Metropolitan of Banchensk Longin sharply criticized the Ukrainian authorities, accusing them of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. During the court hearing, he said that the government’s actions disgrace the country on the international arena and compared them to the persecution of believers during the Soviet era.