Court postpones hearing on eviction of monks from Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

The session of the Northern Court of Appeal concerning the lawsuit of the Ministry of Culture on the expulsion of monks from Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was postponed on December 18, 2025. The reason was the sudden illness of the judge. This decision was reported by the director of the Lavra Reserve Svetlana Kotliarevska, who expressed dissatisfaction with the late notification.

According to Svetlana Kotlyarevskaya, she learned about the postponement of the meeting only an hour before its start. She emphasized the extreme importance of the case, stating that Lavra is «Ukrainian and should belong to the Ukrainian people».

At the same time, the official did not specify why monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), who have Ukrainian citizenship, cannot live and pray in the monastery. The meeting on the case of the expulsion of the monks has been postponed indefinitely.

We shall remind you that earlier we reported that the consideration of the case on the liquidation of the Kiev Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was postponed indefinitely. The reason for this decision was the absence of necessary case materials in the court of first instance.