UOC Metropolitan Arseniy was released from the pre-trial detention center and immediately taken to the Security Service of Ukraine on new charges

The abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Arsenii, was released from a pretrial detention center on bail by court decision, but was immediately taken by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on new charges.

This was reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists.

According to preliminary information, the lawyers succeeded in securing Arsenii’s release on bail of 1,514,000 hryvnias (about €31,000).

The court’s decision was reportedly influenced largely by the very poor state of the metropolitan’s health.

However, around 12:00, immediately after leaving the detention center, Arsenii was taken away by SBU officers in connection with a new charge that had been brought against him three weeks earlier.

At present, Metropolitan Arsenii remains in SBU custody.

Earlier, the media reported that the SBU had charged the metropolitan of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, Arsenii, for allegedly revealing the locations of Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoints in the Kramatorsk district of Donetsk region during a liturgy.

He denies the accusations.

The court then imposed a preventive measure for the duration of the pretrial investigation, placing the metropolitan under arrest for two months without the right to bail.