More than 10,000 UOC believers file motions to defend Kyiv Metropolia

Court case against the UOC. Image: AI-generated

More than 10,000 parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have submitted motions to the court in the case involving the Kyiv Metropolia. Archpriest Nikita Chekman reported an extraordinary level of participation by believers in high-profile cases against the Church.

The law firm is currently providing legal representation in 63 active court cases involving the defense of UOC parishes, monasteries, and clergy. As the number of lawsuits continues to grow, new lawyers are joining the legal team.

Orthodox Christians are also joining court proceedings in large numbers to defend the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and other monasteries. In particular, more than 10,400 motions from believers have already been filed in the case seeking to terminate the UOC Kyiv Metropolia. New submissions continue to arrive every day from believers across the country.

“Such unity and concern are critically important for the defense of our holy sites,” attorney Nikita Chekman stressed.

The lawyers also reminded the public about a hotline dealing with mobilization and military service issues for clergy and members of their families. The hotline has already received 161 inquiries.

“We will not stand aside, especially at a time when clergy, contrary to their religious convictions and international guarantees of freedom of conscience and religion... when violence is already leading to deaths, as happened with the monk of the Sviatohirsk Lavra.”

The lawyers wished those injured in the attack on the Lavra a speedy recovery and stressed that everyone involved in the crime would inevitably be held accountable before the law and God.

As the UOJ reported, the court hearing in the Upper Lavra case has been postponed until September 29, 2026.

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