Supreme Court upholds the sentence of Metropolitan Jonathan (Yeletskykh)

Metropolitan Jonathan (Yeletskykh). Photo: Tulchyn Eparchy

The former ruling bishop of the Tulchyn Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Jonathan (Yeletskykh), through his lawyer, filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court against the sentence that imposed five years of imprisonment. According to Glavcom, citing the judicial register, the court denied the metropolitan's defense in its claim.

According to the Supreme Court's decision, made public on May 8, 2025, the sentence of five years in prison with property confiscation was upheld and is not subject to further appeal.

The defense requested that the Supreme Court overturn the rulings of the previous courts concerning the cleric and send the case for a retrial.

Metropolitan Jonathan's lawyer argued that the investigation committed several violations of the law during the collection of evidence. In particular, the defense asked the court to declare the linguistic examination of the seized church literature, as well as the forensic analysis of the defendant's computer, inadmissible.

The Supreme Court concluded that the guilt of the Metropolitan of Tulchyn and Bratslav of the UOC-MP in committing the alleged crimes was proven.

To recall, on August 7, 2023, a Vinnytsia court found the metropolitan guilty on four articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: violation of citizens' equality, justification of armed aggression by the Russian Federation, calls for the violent change of the constitutional order, and distribution of materials calling for changes to Ukraine's borders.

As the UOJ previously reported, 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 as part of a prisoner exchange.

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