The Lavra's CEO claimed that representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) were delaying the trial
Director General of the “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” National Reserve Maksym Ostapenko and the reserve’s attorney, Ivan Prokopenko, stated that representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) are attempting to delay the consideration of the appeal regarding the termination of the lease agreement.
According to Ostapenko, representatives of the UOC (MP) are allegedly abusing their procedural rights and filing numerous motions, which is why the case has not been heard on its merits for nearly three years. On August 26, the Northern Commercial Court of Appeals postponed the hearing again—the next hearing was scheduled for September 29.
The reserve’s attorney noted that this time, representatives of the UOC (MP) filed a motion to recuse the panel of judges. The court denied the motions, but due to the lengthy consideration of these requests, the hearing on the merits of the case effectively did not take place.
“Today we saw once again how representatives of the UOC, who have been involved in this case since 2023, abuse their authority, mislead the court and the public, and do everything in their power to prevent the court from reaching a lawful decision. Today was a classic hearing, marking the third anniversary of the start of this case. Therefore, of course, it is very sad to see that in the third year of the war, when the Lavra is already under direct attack by Russia, there is still no court ruling on the legality of the first-instance decision regarding the return of the Assumption Cathedral to state use,” Ostapenko said in comments to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency after Wednesday’s court hearing.
He also emphasized that at every court session, the Lavra faces provocations from representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“At the same time, they are completely abusing the Ukrainian judicial system and, in general, the rights they possess,” Ostapenko added.
When asked what would happen if the appellate court ruled in favor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), the director general noted that in that case: “Pavlo ‘Mercedes’ will continue to hold services at the Assumption Cathedral.”
Ivan Prokopenko, the reserve’s attorney, noted that, in his opinion, the motion to recuse the panel of judges on Wednesday was filed by the UOC (MP) with the aim of dragging out the proceedings so that the court would proceed to the stage of ruling on this motion and spend its time on it.
“And subsequently—as indeed happened—we never actually heard the arguments from the parties to the case. Thus, today’s hearing, which lasted nearly two hours, yielded no results and brought no progress in the case. This has been going on for more than three years—that is, since January 24, 2024, when, by court order, we moved to the stage of considering the case on its merits; in these three years, we have never once heard the case on its merits. And the reason it hasn’t been heard is precisely because dozens of motions are filed at every hearing—whether regarding the recusal of judges, the postponement of the hearing because one of the attorneys was unable to attend, or for any other reason,” said the reserve’s attorney.
For his part, the lawyer for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Nikita Chekman noted on his Telegram channel that the motions to recuse the panel of judges were filed because the court allegedly committed gross procedural violations, specifically failing to notify the monks—third parties in the case—about the hearing but proceeding with the case nonetheless.
As previously reported, on March 29, 2023, the “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” National Reserve terminated its lease agreement with the Holy Dormition Monastery of the UOC (MP).
On the same day, the Kyiv Commercial Court opened proceedings on a lawsuit filed by the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra of the UOC (MP) against the “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” Reserve regarding the unlawful termination of the lease agreement, while the UOC (MP) itself stated that it had no intention of vacating the Lavra until the conclusion of the court proceedings.
On August 9, 2023, the court ruled that the termination of the agreement between the UOC (MP) monastery and the “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” Reserve was lawful. The legal battle has moved to the appellate court and has been ongoing for three years.
In April 2026, the general director of the national reserve, Maksym Ostapenko, stated that there are at least 140 monks, novices, and representatives of the UOC (MP) on the grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, but their eviction is possible only by a court decision, which is still pending.
On August 26, the Northern Commercial Court of Appeals once again postponed (until September 29) the substantive hearing of the appeal regarding the illegality of the unilateral termination of the lease agreement.
The Far Caves at the Lavra have reopened after a long hiatus.
As a reminder, Russia attacked the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, causing a fire.
Prior to that, Russian KABs struck the Zaporizhzhia region, leaving several people wounded.
Five State Emergency Service rescuers were killed as a result of the Russian attack on Kharkiv.
