Court orders Metropolitan Luke to pay 10,000 UAH to Cherkasy TV channel

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol. Photo: risu.ua

On August 27, 2025, the Prydniprovsky District Court of Cherkasy issued a ruling in the case of Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol (Andriy Kovalenko). The court ordered the hierarch to pay 10,000 hryvnias in favor of the “VIKKA” television channel.

The funds were awarded as compensation for legal services allegedly incurred by the channel’s editors in defending themselves in a lawsuit initiated by the Metropolitan himself.

Earlier, in April 2025, the hierarch had filed a lawsuit demanding a retraction of false statements broadcast in the program “Current Discussion.” During the broadcast, Cherkasy mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko accused the Metropolitan of “working for the enemy.”

In June, the court rejected the Metropolitan’s claim. Now, following the channel’s petition, the court has ordered that part of the legal costs be recovered from the hierarch.

It should be recalled that Metropolitan Luke has previously faced pressure from the authorities. In 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced charges against him, and earlier the National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions on him.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol described what was happening in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra as “innovations of hell.”

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