Cherkasy, Cherkasy Province, Ukraine, August 29, 2025
pravlife.org
A Ukrainian court has ordered His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church to pay 10,000 hryvnias (approximately $240) to television channel VIKKA for legal expenses incurred defending against his defamation lawsuit.
The Pridniprovsky District Court of Cherkasy issued the supplementary ruling on July 14, following its June 16 decision rejecting Met. Luke’s original lawsuit against the TV station and Cherkasy Mayor Anatoly Bondarenko,
The case stemmed from an April 2025 broadcast of the program Current Conversation on VIKKA, during which Mayor Bondarenko accused the Metropolitan of “working for the enemy.” Met. Luke subsequently filed suit demanding a retraction of the false information damaging his honor, dignity, and business reputation.
After the court dismissed his defamation claim in June, VIKKA’s legal representative requested compensation for the 47,500 hryvnias ($1,150) in legal fees the station had incurred defending itself. The court partially granted this request, ordering Met. Luke to pay 10,000 hryvnias, citing the case’s relatively low complexity.
Met. Luke, known for his vocal opposition to the persecution of the UOC by state authorities and the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” has faced multiple legal challenges. Criminal proceedings were initiated against him in August 2023 on charges of “inciting religious enmity”—the same accusation commonly leveled against UOC hierarchs who refuse to join the OCU. The Ukrainian government had previously placed him under sanctions in December 2022, and in May 2024, he was placed under nighttime house arrest.
The Metropolitan has 30 days to appeal the court’s decision to the Cherkasy Court of Appeals.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
