Court Upholds Detention of Metr. Arseniy
An appellate court upheld the continued detention of Metr. Arseniy, rejecting defense efforts to secure his release.
KRYVYI RIH, UKRAINE — The Dnipro Court of Appeal has dismissed defense appeals seeking to overturn a lower court’s decision extending the detention of Metr. Arseniy of Sviatohirsk. The ruling, announced February 12, 2026, upholds the January 22 decision of the Chechelivskyi District Court of Dnipro, which prolonged the hierarch’s preventive measure for 60 days, through March 22.
Metr. Arseniy participated in the appellate hearing by video conference. Faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) gathered at the courthouse to offer prayerful support and stand in solidarity with the hierarch during the proceedings.
Defense attorneys argued that there were no sufficient grounds to justify continued confinement in a pretrial detention center and requested a non-custodial preventive measure. After hearing arguments from both sides, the panel of judges declined to satisfy the appeals and left the lower court’s ruling unchanged. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for February 25 at noon.
Previously, the UOJ reported that a Ukrainian MP warned of "slow killing" of Metr. Arseniy in detention.
