A UOC cleric was placed under house arrest to prevent him from serving on Easter

Ukrainian police have served a motion for pre-trial detention in the form of 24-hour house arrest to Archimandrite Feognost (Yurash), a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

This information reported according to his lawyer, Nikita Chekman.

“Although there had been an agreement with the investigator and SBU officers that no preventive measures would be imposed before Holy Easter following the notice of suspicion, something went wrong on the side of law enforcement,” Chekman stated.

The defense also pointed out that the address listed in the motion is not where the priest actually resides and is located far from the church where Father Feognost conducts services.

“We understand that the goal of law enforcement is to prevent Father Feognost from leading Easter services,” the lawyer emphasized.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and National Police accused Archimandrite Feognost (Yurash) of illegally transferring ownership of a church property in Kyiv region. The cleric faces up to 12 years in prison.

As a reminder, Ukrainian law enforcement also raided the home of UOC Chancellor Metropolitan Antony (Pakanich) earlier this week.