Hierarchs of the UOC appealed to Zelensky with a request to release seriously ill Metropolitan Arseniy

Hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have published an open appeal to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling on him to immediately release Metropolitan Arseniy (Yakovenko), the vicar of the Sviatogorsk Lavra, from detention. The reason for the appeal was the critical health condition of the hierarch, who needs urgent surgery, and his repeated detention immediately after bail was posted.

The open letter, published on November 1, 2025, reports that Metropolitan Arseny has been in detention for more than a year and a half. It is emphasized that he suffers from serious heart disease, and a medical report dated September 30, 2025 confirms the need for urgent surgical intervention, which is not available to him in conditions of detention.

The authors of the appeal point out that on October 23, 2025, the Dnipro Court of Appeal decided to release the Metropolitan on bail, which was posted on October 27. However, the very next day, October 28, he was re-detained by SBU officers. The letter says that the hierarch was «driven around various institutions for almost 12 hours, including during the night.» The UOC called such treatment of a seriously ill person «inhuman and contrary to the principles of humanity and the rule of law.»

The hierarchs also recalled the humanitarian activities of Metropolitan Arseny. According to them, since 2014 the Sviatogorsk Lavra under his leadership has become a refuge for thousands of Ukrainian citizens fleeing the fighting. «Every day the brethren of the Lavra fed more than five thousand people, among them about a thousand children,» the appeal said. The service of the Metropolitan is called an example of true patriotism and sacrifice.

In the UOC believe that the detention of the seriously ill hierarch in custody is a violation of the Constitution of Ukraine, the norms of the Criminal procedural code and the European convention on human rights. «We are deeply convinced that keeping a seriously ill person in custody without proper medical care is not only a violation of the Constitution of Ukraine, but also a direct violation of the norms of international humanitarian law,» the hierarchs say. They ask the President to take the case under his personal control, to facilitate the release of Metropolitan Arseniy for medical treatment and to ensure further fair trial.

The appeal was signed by the Primate of the UOC Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Metropolitan Onuphrius, as well as dozens of other bishops of the church. The collection of signatures continues.