UOC MP metropolitan's lawsuit against Cherkasy TV channel dismissed

The Prydniprovskyi District Court of Cherkasy dismissed the lawsuit by Metropolitan Luca (Andriy Kovalenko) of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol (UOC MP) against the Cherkasy TV channel VIKKA. Cherkasy Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko was the co-defendant in the lawsuit, as it was his statements that the UOC MP metropolitan was objecting to.

VIKKA CEO Serhiy Kuzliayev reported on the outcomes of the lawsuit in a Facebook post.

The metropolitan demanded a retraction from the TV channel and one hryvnia in moral damages. The case has been won in the first instance, but Kuzliayev is convinced that there will be an appeal in the future.

SBU officers notifying Metropolitan Luca (Andriy Kovalenko), the leader of the UOC MP diocese in Zaporizhzia, of suspicion. Photo by the SBU

As the TV channel's defense attorney Valeriy Makeyev told the Institute of Mass Information representative in Cherkasy oblast, Olena Shchepak, the metropolitan's claims concerned a minute-long excerpt from a program the total runtime of which was more than half an hour.

"It was an interview with Bondarenko about everything related to the Moscow Patriarchate. When it came to the reasons for the negative attitude, Bondarenko cited 'memories', saying 'if I am not mistaken' (that is, it was an assumption)," Makeyev said. "The defendants claimed that the statement was taken out of context and can not be a subject of study in and of itself in the form in which the plaintiff presented it. The plaintiff also claimed in the debate that he was a public figure and the video had caused him significant moral harm. Our argument was, okay, if he is a public figure, then the requirements for him are different: he must endure public discussion.”

The lawyer added that the metropolitan was unable to prove in court that the YouTube channel which posted the video belongs to VIKKA TV.

“Will there be an appeal? It’s hard to say. The game may not be worth the money that the losing party has to pay for the services of the winning party's lawyers. These are the stories of our time, which should be taken into account,” Valeriy Makeyev added.

On May 1, 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine notified Metropolitan Luca of suspicion of inciting religion-based hatred. According to the investigation, he had publicly expressed contempt for parishioners of other denominations in conversations with his flock and during liturgies.

On December 11, 2022, the National Security and Defense Council imposed targeted sanctions against seven hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. These included Metropolitan Luca (Andriy Kovalenko) of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol (UOC MP).