Metropolitan Eulogiy (Hutchenko)

Metropolitan Eulogiy of Sumy and Okhtyrka
(secular name: Yevhen Hutchenko)

A bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, ruling hierarch of the Sumy and Okhtyrka Eparchy since November 17, 2008.

The criminal case against Metropolitan Eulogiy became part of a broader campaign of persecution of UOC clergy by representatives of the Ukrainian authorities.

The hierarch became a target of law enforcement agencies because of a sermon in which he denounced criminal actions by activists of the OCU.

The Metropolitan stated that he does not recognize the OCU structure as part of the family of Local Orthodox Churches.

Solely for publicly articulating this fact, the hierarch was charged under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – incitement of interreligious hatred.

On February 20, 2024, law enforcement officers served Metropolitan Eulogiy of Sumy with a notice of suspicion for “incitement of interreligious enmity”, which he allegedly committed by speaking about the non-recognition of the OCU by a number of Local Churches.

In addition, according to the Metropolitan, officers of the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine pressured him to sign a document admitting guilt.

(Source: UOJ)

On May 10, 2024, a court hearing took place at the Zarechnyi District Court.

At the hearing, the prosecution filed a motion to reclassify the charges, while the defense submitted a motion to close the case.

The suspicion against the hierarch was based on his statement during a sermon regarding the “non-recognition by the Polish and Albanian Churches of apostolic succession in the OCU”.

The alleged injured party, Yurii Kondratenko, stated that the pre-trial investigation bodies had classified the offense under Part 3 of Article 161. However, in his view, the video of the sermon posted on Facebook and on the diocesan website could not have been created and uploaded by Metropolitan Eulogiy alone, and therefore he must have acted in cooperation with other persons. On this basis, Kondratenko requested that the suspicion be reclassified under a more “serious” article.

Both the defense counsel for the Metropolitan and the prosecutor considered the position of the alleged injured party insufficient grounds for returning the case for additional investigation.

In turn, the hierarch’s lawyer requested that the criminal proceedings be closed, since neither the defense nor Metropolitan Eulogiy had been notified of the completion of the pre-trial investigation within the statutory time limit – two months from the date of service of the notice of suspicion. The delay amounted to six days.

After examining the case materials, the court ruled to reject the injured party’s motion for reclassification and to grant the defense motion to close the criminal proceedings.

(Source: UOJ)

On August 28, 2024, following an appeal filed by the prosecutor of the Sumy Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the Sumy Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the Zarechnyi District Court to close the criminal proceedings.

(Source: UOJ)