The Supreme Court of Ukraine has opened appellate proceedings on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’s appeal

The Supreme Court of Ukraine, sitting as a panel of judges of the Administrative Court of Cassation, has officially begun reviewing the appeal filed by the “Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” men’s monastery. The legal proceedings concern a challenge to previously issued rulings by the appellate court.

According to , the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (GESS) reports that the proceedings were initiated by a court order dated September 22, 2026. The subject of the dispute is the ruling of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal dated July 23, 2026, in Case No. 855/11/25 (Proceedings A/990/21/26).

This legal process is part of the ongoing proceedings regarding the status of the religious organization. The Supreme Court’s decision to accept the appeal for consideration marks the case’s transition to the cassation review stage in the country’s highest judicial body.

As a reminder, OCU cleric Georgy Kovalenko previously commented on the current situation surrounding the eviction of monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, emphasizing that legal proceedings were being deliberately delayed. According to Kovalenko, the monastic community of the UOC should be dealt with “under wartime laws,” and only then should the legality of such a decision be examined in court.