Clergy, monks, and laypeople from the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC (Ukrainian Orthodox Church) have issued an open appeal to President Vladimir Zelensky, other representatives of the government, and judges, urging them to cease the persecution of Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Kanev Theodosius.

The authors of the appeal liken today's persecution against the UOC to the persecution of believers under Soviet rule. The appeal notes that "the powerful of this world have embarked on a dangerous path of dividing our people into right and wrong, insiders and outsiders, patriots and non-patriots." The authors state that "many of the senior clergy remember well the time when being a believer meant being persecuted, humiliated, judged, and even locked away in psychiatric hospitals," and "today, the same methods are used: deceit, falsehood, informants, and legal persecution."

The priests of the Ukrainian Church called on President Zelensky to "issue an order to immediately stop the artificially fabricated criminal case against Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Kanev Theodosius and release the archpastor from house arrest."

Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Kanev Theodosius has been under house arrest since April, and on August 21, a trial began in Cherkasy. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) accuses the Metropolitan of inciting interfaith discord and justifying armed aggression. Both charges carry a penalty of up to eight years in prison. As evidence of his guilt, the SBU cites the modernization of the diocese's website in 2020, which, according to their claim, followed the example of websites of the Russian Orthodox Church. The accused himself stated that the criminal case against him was fabricated based on reports from clerics he had banned from serving due to immoral behavior or schism.