DESS gives Pochaiv Lavra another 60 days to break with UOC Kyiv Metropolia

Pochaiv Lavra. Photo: open sources

On September 3, 2026, DESS head Viktor Yelensky announced that Pochaiv Lavra had been given an additional 60 days to comply with an order requiring it to break ties with the UOC Kyiv Metropolia. This was reported by Ukrinform.

The monastery’s lawyers filed a petition asking for more time to fulfill all the requirements. The law on protecting the constitutional order allows officials to grant such a request when there are valid reasons.

The state agency is requiring the monastery to meet two main conditions. First, the Lavra must withdraw from the UOC Kyiv Metropolia. Second, the monastery’s abbot, Metropolitan Volodymyr, must withdraw from the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Officials also require the hierarch to state, either in writing or orally, his disagreement with his appointment to ROC governing bodies.

“The request to extend the deadline for complying with the order states that the abbot of Pochaiv Lavra does not have the authority to make the decision to withdraw from the Metropolia on his own. Under the religious organization’s charter, this requires convening the Spiritual Council of Pochaiv Lavra, which accordingly requires more time,” Yelensky said.

The DESS head also said the lawyers need additional time to provide an accurate translation of Russian-language documents that officials attached as evidence of ties with Moscow.

“In 60 days, we expect them either to comply with this order or, if they do not comply and the Spiritual Council of Pochaiv Lavra adopts a different decision, then this religious organization will be recognized as affiliated with the ROC, which is banned in Ukraine, and a lawsuit will immediately be filed with the court seeking the termination of this religious organization,” Yelensky warned.

On July 22, 2026, DESS announced that it had found signs of Pochaiv Lavra’s ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. On July 27, the agency issued the monastery an order requiring it to sever relations with the UOC Kyiv Metropolia within 30 days.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Tetiana Tsaruk, head of the Rivne branch of the Myriany [Laity - Ed.] public union, called DESS’s demand that Pochaiv Lavra withdraw from the Kyiv Metropolia “madness,” saying that instead of interfering in Church affairs, officials should pray for peace in the Ukrainian land.

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