Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Province, Ukraine, June 15, 2026
Photo: rbk.ru
The measure of restraint against His Eminence Metropolitan Arseny of Svyatogorsk, abbot of Svyatogorsk Lavra, has been reduced again.
At a hearing on June 11 at the Chechelov District Court in Dnipro, the judge ruled to change his measure of restraint from round-the-clock house arrest to nighttime house arrest, effective immediately. Under the new terms, Met. Arseny must remain at his place of house arrest between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, and is free to move about during the remaining hours of the day. The measure has been extended for two months, until August 11, with the next hearing scheduled for June 30, the monastery reports.
Metropolitan Arseny was initially detained on April 25, 2024, for mentioning a military checkpoint in a homily given months prior, with authorities claiming he was secretly relaying military positions to the Russian military. He was finally released from detention on February 25 of this year, with the case against him having made no progress over the course of nearly two years.
Prosecutors sought a 2-month extension of his round-the-clock house arrest, while Met. Arseny’s team argued that he needs greater freedom of movement for rehabilitation following nearly two years of imprisonment and the heart surgery he underwent in March following his release.
“Of course, the house where I am staying is larger than a 2.5-by-5-meter cell in the detention facility where I spent nearly two years with four to six people at a time, but I have no ability to go for walks and my physical activity is limited—which is necessary for recovery after surgery and imprisonment,” His Eminence said.
In his remarks, the Metropolitan again stated that he doesn’t admit any guilt. “Living for my flock and for the people of Ukraine—that’s my only ‘guilt’ before the people of Ukraine. But for some reason, the prosecution doesn’t take into account my 33 years of priesthood, and at every court hearing fabricated accusations are voiced by prosecutors,” he said.
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