DESS gives Pochaiv Lavra 30 days to break ties with Moscow
Pochaiv Lavra. Photo: open sources
The Pochaiv Lavra has received an order from Ukraine's State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) requiring it to confirm within 30 days that it has severed all ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. The agency announced the decision in a post on its Facebook page.
According to DESS, the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra must submit documentary evidence within one month showing that it has withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. The agency has previously used the same requirement in relation to other structures of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), citing Ukraine's law banning the activities of religious organizations linked to Russia.
The Pochaiv Lavra has repeatedly described such orders from DESS as unfounded, stating that the monastery is part of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which declared its full independence from the Russian Orthodox Church at its Council in 2022. The monastery's clergy and faithful have also stressed that they receive neither instructions nor financial support from the Moscow Patriarchate.
As previously reported by the UOJ, on July 22, 2026, DESS declared the Pochaiv Lavra to be "affiliated" with the Russian Orthodox Church. The agency based its conclusion on the fact that the Lavra belongs to the Kyiv Metropolia, which DESS has already classified as being linked to Moscow.
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