Court extends pretrial measure for Metropolitan of Cherkasy

Court hearing in Cherkasy. Photo: Suspilne

On May 13, 2025, the Sosnivka District Court of Cherkasy held another hearing in the case of Metropolitan Theodosiy, ruling bishop of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC, who is facing charges in four criminal cases.

According to Suspilne, the court reviewed the prosecutor's motion to extend the pretrial restraint and ruled to prolong the personal recognizance measure for another two months – until July 13, 2025.

Metropolitan Theodosiy attended the hearing via video link. The court ordered him to inform authorities of any changes to his phone number or place of residence, appear in court as scheduled, and avoid any contact with witnesses in the case.

Prosecutor Oleksii Posokhov argued that “while at liberty, Snihirev may influence witnesses and evade investigation, as well as potentially commit further crimes similar to those he is already accused of.”

The metropolitan’s lawyer, Volodymyr Yudin, objected, calling these risks unfounded and “based on assumptions.” He noted that some of the cited risks were no longer relevant: “For example, we’ve already questioned the witnesses, so that risk no longer exists.”

As a reminder, on March 18, 2025, the Sosnivka District Court of Cherkasy changed the metropolitan’s pretrial measure from house arrest to personal recognizance.

Legal proceedings against Metropolitan Theodosiy (Snihirev) of Cherkasy and Kaniv have been ongoing for two years. Over this time, he has received five criminal suspicions, two of which were later consolidated into a single case. The first charge was announced by the SBU on February 20, 2023.

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