Supreme Court opens proceedings on UOC Kyiv Metropolis's appeal
The highest judicial authority accepted for consideration the UOC's appeal against a lower court's attempt to transfer the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra's lawsuit against DESS to a district court.
The Supreme Court opened appellate proceedings on the appeal of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC against the decision of a lower instance that transferred the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra's lawsuit against the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Concience (DESS) to another court, reports reports the DESS website.
On September 22, 2026, a panel of the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court decided to open appellate proceedings on the appeal of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC.
The legal process began with a lawsuit filed by DESS officials demanding the complete liquidation of the legal entity "Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC" and the seizure of its property into state ownership. In response, the Metropolis filed a counterclaim demanding that the officials' actions and decisions be declared unlawful.
On July 22, 2026, the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra attempted to join the proceedings, demanding the cancellation of the DESS order recognizing the Metropolitanate as "affiliated with a foreign organization" and the withdrawal of the issued directive. However, the Sixth Appellate Administrative Court refused to consider the monastery's claims as a single block and on July 23, 2026, forwarded the Lavra's lawsuit to the Kyiv District Administrative Court.
Disagreeing with the attempt to split the judicial proceedings, the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC filed an appellate complaint with the Supreme Court on August 4, 2026, insisting on the joint consideration of the Lavra's lawsuit and the liquidation case.
Previously, the UOJ reported that the trial in the case of the Kyiv Metropolis was postponed again.
