The Prydniprovskyi District Court of Cherkasy has recovered 10 thousand hryvnias from Andriy Kovalenko, the Metropolitan of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, for VIKKA TV. The news outlet spent the money on lawyers’ fees as they defended themselves in the lawsuit filed by the metropolitan, VIKKA TV CEO Serhiy Kuzlyaev reported in a comment to the regional IMI representative, Elena Shchepak.
According to the ruling, the court received a motion from the TV channel’s representative, lawyer Valeriy Makeyev, on 30 June. Makeyev requested that Kovalenko pay off the 47,500 hryvnias that the channel had spent on professional legal assistance.
Kovalenko’s representative objected to the claim, stating that all evidence of the incurred court expenses should have been provided by the parties before the end of the trial.
In the end, the court satisfied part of Makeyev’s motion and ruled to recover 10 thousand hryvnias worth of legal fees from the plaintiff in the defendant’s favour.
Previously
In April 2025, Andriy Kovalenko (Luca), Metropolitan Bishop of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, sued the Cherkasy-based TV channel VIKKA, demanding a retraction of allegedly untrue information that had been reported on the air of the program “Topical Talk” in December 2024. The metropolitan also insisted the channel pay him one hryvnia in compensation.
The lawsuit was triggered by a statement by the Cherkasy Mayor, Anatoliy Bondarenko, who had said while talking on the program that the metropolitan was working for the enemy.
In June, the Prydniprovskyi District Court dismissed the metropolitan’s lawsuit against the TV channel.
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).