Metropolitan Jonathan appeals sentence to Supreme Court

Metropolitan Jonathan in court. Photo: Press Service of the Tulchyn Eparchy

The former head of the Tulchyn Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Jonathan (Yeletskykh), through his lawyer, filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court against a sentence imposing five years of imprisonment. This was reported by Glavcom, citing the court registry.

The Supreme Court requested the criminal case materials from the Vinnytsia City Court for the cassation review. To recall, on August 7, 2023, the Vinnytsia Court found the metropolitan guilty of four articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code: violation of citizens' equality, justification of Russian armed aggression, calls for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, and dissemination of materials calling for changes to Ukraine's borders.

Metropolitan Jonathan was sentenced to five years in prison with property confiscation. In June 2024, the Vinnytsia Appeals Court upheld this decision.

As reported by the UOJ, on June 22, 2024, at the request of Patriarch Kirill and following negotiations, Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav was released and transferred to Russia via exchange.

Read also

Poland repeals law recognizing same-sex unions concluded in the EU

The court ruled that the registration of foreign same-sex unions contradicts the article of the Constitution defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

The right hand of St. Basil the Great to visit Romania for the first time

The relic from Greece will be displayed in the cathedral of Alexandria to mark the 30th anniversary of the local diocese.

DESS expert tells US State Department reps about religious freedom in Ukraine

Andriy Smirnov held a meeting with staff of the US State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom.

Eight people killed in drone strike on monastery in Ethiopia

Two nuns and six priests were killed in the strike on the monastery; several more people were seriously injured.

Church commemorates St. Seraphim of Sarov

The venerable saint began his path of asceticism after a pilgrimage to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and prayer before the Caves saints.

DESS responds to statements by UOC lawyers

Yelensky’s agency claimed that the UOC’s lawyers are “discrediting” Ukraine’s leadership and spreading “disinformation.”