Court announces results of hearing in Lower Lavra case
The next hearing will take place on 18 December.
On 13 November 2025, the Northern Appellate Commercial Court in Kyiv held another session in the case concerning the termination of the usage agreement for the Lower Lavra. Fr. Mykyta Chekman, the lawyer for the Kyiv–Pechersk Lavra, reported the results.
According to the attorney, the hearing lasted nearly the entire day – from 10:30 to 19:00.
“As a result of this session, unfortunately, the plaintiff’s side was denied all procedural motions,” the lawyer noted.
In particular, the monastery’s attorneys were denied the inclusion of third parties – the Lavra brotherhood – and appeals requesting the closure of the proceedings were dismissed.
The court ruled to complete all preparatory actions and scheduled the hearing on the merits for 18 December. The session is set to begin at 12:30.
Fr. Mykyta thanked all believers for their prayerful support and urged them to continue praying for the brotherhood and the abbot of the monastery, for the UOC’s lawyers, and for His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.
“Thanks to your prayers, prayer continues to be heard in the Lavra, and the Divine Liturgies are still being celebrated,” he said.
As the UOJ previously reported, at the previous hearing the monastery’s lawyers filed a recusal motion against one of the judges due to his biased stance toward the UOC, and that judge recused himself.
