Authorities to Ukrainian Doctor: If You Admit Met. Arseny, You're Fired

Met. Arseny in the hospital. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

DNIPRO — On Monday, the Soborny District Court ruled to place Met. Arseny of Sviatohirsk in custody for 38 days, despite the hierarch’s critical health condition and the willingness of 10 members of parliament to act as guarantors for his release, the Sviatohirsk Lavra reported.

On the fifth day of hearings to determine a preventive measure for the Metropolitan, Judge Olga Konoplenko ordered that he be held in a pretrial detention center until Dec. 10, 2025, without the right to bail.

Around 2 p.m. during the court session, Met. Arseny became severely unwell. The ambulance that was called recorded his blood pressure at 200 over 110 — a severe level. The hierarch was taken to the hospital.

“I have never had such blood pressure before,” the Metropolitan later recounted. “God is my witness — for the sake of my flock who came to support me, I held on as long as I could and tried not to show how bad I felt. Today I felt worse than ever in my life.”

At the hospital, the Metropolitan was given an injection, an IV, and a sedative. Doctors recorded his information and told him he would need to undergo tests in the morning — meaning he had been admitted for hospitalization. But then, something unprecedented occurred.

“They told the doctor about me: ‘If you admit him, you’re fired,’” Met. Arseny testified. “He was running down the corridor shouting, ‘Why do I need this? Take him away immediately!’”

The hierarch was wheeled out of the hospital to the car door on a stretcher. Despite having an IV still in place and having received injections, his blood pressure at that moment was 180 over 100, with a pulse of 128 beats per minute.

“They discharged me as ‘stable’ and told them to bring me back to court,” Met. Arseny.

He was brought to the courtroom at 5 p.m. Faithful and clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) came to support him, including Met. Luka of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol.

Before the verdict was announced, the hierarch addressed the judge:

“Allow me to live a little longer with the Ukrainian people, for whose sake I have lived and continue to live. I am flesh of the flesh and blood of the blood of the Ukrainian people. I, though unworthy, have the honor of being a spiritual shepherd of this people.”

The Metropolitan pleaded to be released either on bail or under surety in order to receive medical treatment, saying he would not survive another imprisonment in the detention center.

Previously, UOJ reported that Met. Arseny, who is in urgent need of heart surgery, was taken to the hospital.

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