Court finds Metropolitan Theodosiy guilty
The court found Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy guilty of inciting inter-religious hatred.
On February 6, 2026, the Prydniprovsky District Court of Cherkasy issued a guilty verdict against Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The metropolitan himself reported this during a sermon at the Krasnohirsky Convent. The hierarch did not provide details of the verdict. This is the first of four court cases against the hierarch to conclude with a guilty verdict.
The criminal prosecution was initiated by the SBU based on a sermon by Metropolitan Theodosiy delivered in February 2024. The sermon was given at the temporary shelter of the nuns from the Nativity of the Mother of God Convent, who were forcibly expelled from their shrine by a group of militants in November 2023.
Recall that in November 2023, the Nativity of the Mother of God Convent of Cherkasy, where Archbishop Ioann served as abbot, was seized. The nuns were driven from their cells, priests were beaten, and parishioners were injured. The sisters found temporary shelter in the Krasnohirsky Convent Skete.
Speaking to believers on February 7, Metropolitan Theodosiy called the case "a fabricated stitch-up," but expressed gratitude to God for the verdict.
"A guilty verdict under our conditions is, in some sense, a certificate that you are an honest person," the hierarch stated.
The metropolitan emphasized that the defense will appeal the decision in all judicial instances – from the appellate to the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and if necessary – to the European Court of Human Rights.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that during the trial, a parishioner of the seized monastery in Cherkasy testified that after a raider attack, she regained consciousness lying on the ground, all in blood.
