Metropolitan Arseny: "I am not defending myself. I am defending the good that we have in Ukraine"

In the Soborny District Court of Dnipro on October 30, 2025, a hearing was held to elect a measure of restraint for the vicar of Sviatogorsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy. The hearing, which lasted until late at night, was interrupted due to the deteriorating state of health of the hierarch and postponed until the morning of October 31. Earlier, upon arrival at the temporary detention center, all medications were confiscated from the vladyka.

According to the website of the Holy Assumption Svyatogorsk Lavra, the meeting began at 14:00. The prosecution petitioned to keep the metropolitan in custody. To support the bishop in the courtroom gathered about 30 believers and clergy, as well as the people’s Deputy of Ukraine Victoria Hryb, one of the ten parliamentarians ready to take the vladyka on bail.

In his speech, Metropolitan Arseniy denied the accusations, insisting on his innocence. He stated that he was not a threat to the investigation: “They say that I can allegedly escape. Excuse me, but in 2022 I was in Lavra, sitting under shelling….. i had the opportunity to escape if I wanted to. But I didn’t run anywhere.” The bishop also pointed to the impossibility of destroying the documents that had been seized earlier and to the invalidity of the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, who, according to him, had mixed up the date of the sermon, which became the reason for the criminal case.

Vladyka Arseniy emphasized that he is supported by human rights activists from abroad and ordinary people from all over Ukraine, who continue to send humanitarian aid to Lavra. “I am not defending myself. I am defending the good that we have in Ukraine. Now we are taking a test of our humanity, our conscience, sanity,” the hierarch noted, addressing the court.

The hearing was interrupted around 21:00 due to an air raid. After the resumption, around 22:00, Metropolitan Arseny felt ill. The arriving medics recorded his high blood pressure (170×110) and gave him an injection. At midnight the court declared a break, scheduling the continuation of the session for 10:00 Friday, October 31.

At the same time, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Dnipro is considering the complaints of lawyers against the illegal detention of the Metropolitan. Thus, three court hearings concerning the case of the vicar of Sviatogorsk Lavra are scheduled for October 31.

Recall, the international lawyer of the UOC Robert Amsterdam published an urgent appeal in connection with the illegal detention of Metropolitan of Sviatogorsk Arseniy. The human rights activist claims that after UN experts recognized the bishop’s persecution as unlawful, the Ukrainian authorities brought new charges against him in order to prolong his detention, which has already lasted for more than 17 months.