SESS Declared the "Affiliation" of the Pochaiv Lavra with the ROC
The SESS referred to the lavra's belonging to the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC and the provisions of the ROC's statute, without presenting the position of the monastery itself.
On July 22, 2026, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience announced the completion of an investigation, following which the agency declared the presence of signs of "affiliation" of the Pochaiv Holy Dormition Lavra of the UOC with a foreign religious organization banned in Ukraine, as stated on the official page of the SESS.
The service claims that the basis for this conclusion was the inclusion of the Pochaiv Lavra in the structure of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC, which the SESS had previously already recognized as connected to a foreign religious organization.
According to the agency's version, the monastery's belonging to the Kyiv Metropolis is confirmed by the lavra's statute and other documents governing its activities. At the same time, the statement does not present the position of the Pochaiv Lavra itself or the Ukrainian Orthodox Church regarding the findings of the investigation.
The SESS also referred to the provisions of the statute of the Russian Orthodox Church, which, as the service states, provide for the participation of the abbot of the Pochaiv Lavra in the governing bodies of the ROC.
The corresponding order was issued on the basis of laws on freedom of conscience and the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of religious organizations' activities. The investigation was conducted from June 24, 2026.
Previously, the SPJ reported that a court opened proceedings on the SESS's lawsuit regarding the liquidation of the Holoseyevo Hermitage.
