Mykita Chekman commented on the court's decision regarding the Lower Lavra

On April 10, 2025, a hearing took place in the Northern Appeal Commercial Court of Kyiv regarding the Lower Lavra case. As reported by Lavra’s lawyer, Archpriest Mykita Chekman, the hearing was postponed until May 1. The reason for this is the involvement of the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the UOC as a third party in the case. He shared this information on his Telegram channel.

The Metropolitanate was given time to prepare and submit written explanations regarding the case before the next hearing.

«I believe that the decision to involve the Kyiv Metropolitanate is legal and justified because it fully ensures the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to present its legal position and defend the rights and interests of both the monastery and the monks, as well as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a whole,» the lawyer concluded.

It is worth reminding that representatives of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra have submitted a statement to the Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigation in Kyiv regarding criminal offenses related to the Ministry of Culture’s commission in the Near and Far Caves. The monastery’s statement claims that Minister Mykola Tochitsky, by issuing a decree on the «expertise» of the relics of the Kyiv-Pechersk saints, consciously violated several provisions of Ukrainian legislation