The Pochaiv Lavra is demanding a retraction of defamatory statements from the online publication ZAXID.NET

The administration of the Pochaiv Lavra has issued an official demand that the online publication ZAXID.NET retract the inaccurate information published in its September 17 article. Should the publication refuse, the monastery administration is prepared to defend its reputation in court.

, a statement signed by the monastery’s abbot, Metropolitan Vladimir of Pochaiv, emphasizes that the publication’s journalists intentionally distorted facts taken from the original source—the website hromadske. Specifically, the article mistakenly referred to a pilgrim from Odesa as a “monk of the Pochaiv Lavra” and a resident of the Ternopil region as a “resident of Pochaiv.” According to representatives of the monastery, such manipulations create a false impression among the audience that the statements of these individuals reflect the official position of the monastery’s monastic community.

In addition, the Lavra pointed out the publication’s systematic use of the abbreviated label “UOC-MP.” The monastery’s lawyers insist on the need to use the organization’s official statutory name— “Ukrainian Orthodox Church”—citing Article 90 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, which guarantees legal entities the right to have their name accurately stated in the public sphere.

At this time, they are demanding that the ZAXID.NET editorial board post an official retraction on the page containing the original publication. Previously, the Pochaiv Lavra had already drawn attention to the increasing number of instances of the dissemination of inaccurate information regarding the monastery’s internal affairs, construction work, and property inventory.