Video of Met Arseny's sermon, for which he is prosecuted, published online

Metropolitan Arseny in court. Photo: MP Artem Dmytruk

The Telegram channel "Pershy Kozatsky" published a video dated September 23, 2023, which, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), became the reason for accusing Metropolitan Arseny, the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, of "veiled disclosure" of the positions of defense checkpoints in the Kramatorsk district of Donetsk region.

On September 25, 2023, this video was published on the website of the Sviatohirsk Lavra and in local Telegram channel groups.

In the video, Bishop Arseny states that on the eve of the feast of the Cathedral of the Holy Sviatohirsk Saints (September 24), the 15th anniversary of their canonization, pilgrims and volunteers were detained and not allowed through the checkpoints without stating reasons. People who waited for 7 hours still couldn't attend the celebration. The Metropolitan says that the checkpoints are located further to the Lavra, in the village of Tatyanka, without mentioning any specific positions.

"This document check operation (at checkpoints) is scheduled for only two days. Today and tomorrow. They haven't checked before and I think they won't check even after lunch tomorrow. Because their main goal is to block access," says the UOC hierarch.

Metropolitan Arseny compares the celebration at the Sviatohirsk Lavra with the celebration of the Hasidim in Uman, when law enforcement did not prevent 32,000 pilgrims from coming to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and did not check IDs of the Hasidim pilgrims.

"It's offensive for our Orthodox people that we've become worse than criminals in our own state, in our own homeland. Therefore, may God, brothers and sisters, help us bear this with prayer, and let us pray for our fellow Christians and for those who were not able to arrive here. This is not our fault. We wish that people could always be able to gather here and pray. I think if these spectacles hadn't been organized, there wouldn't be any problems now," concludes the metropolitan.

As the UOJ reported, on April 25, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office announced that the court had chosen preventive measures for the abbot of the Holy Assumption Sviatohirsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseny, in the form of a 60-day detention without the right to bail.

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