Court hearing in Upper Lavra case postponed

Northern Commercial Court of Appeal in Kyiv. Photo: Video screenshot / t.me/save_Lavra

The court hearing in the case concerning the Upper Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra has been postponed until September 29, 2026, monastery lawyer Archpriest Nikita Chekman reported.

According to him, the court committed serious procedural violations: monks who are third parties in the case were not notified of the date, time, and place of the hearing. Despite this, proceedings were opened.

The monastery’s side filed a motion to recuse the panel of judges, which took considerable time to consider. The motion was ultimately rejected, but the court nevertheless decided to postpone the hearing in order to properly notify the monks and eliminate any doubts over whether they had been duly summoned.

Chekman also said that people hostile to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had come to the courthouse, including provocateurs. According to the lawyer, he was subjected to professional pressure as a defense representative and therefore filed a complaint with law enforcement under Article 397 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, concerning interference with the work of defense counsel.

Davyd Pshenychnyi, who is well known on social media, publicly called Chekman “a lawyer for the Russian Orthodox Church” and displayed a document resembling a Russian passport bearing the lawyer’s photograph.

Radical Dmytro Korchynskyi also appeared outside the courthouse and suggested that UOC believers “repent” and turn themselves in to the Security Service of Ukraine.

In the courthouse corridor, Pshenychnyi, previously known for a shooting incident at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Cherkasy, threatened Viktoria Kokhanovska. Police intervened and prevented the confrontation from escalating. According to eyewitnesses, however, the provocateurs were dissatisfied with the officers’ actions and also directed threats at police, including a remark that they should leave the country.

As the UOJ reported, UOC believers and provocateurs gathered outside the Kyiv court hearing the Lavra case.

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