Lviv City Council demands demolition of allegedly unauthorized OCU chapel
The Lviv City Council, after two court rulings, continued to pursue the demolition of an OCU chapel, which the city administration considers to have been unlawfully erected on municipal land.
On August 10, 2026, it became known that the Lviv City Council had filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court regarding the dismantling of an OCU chapel in the Pid Holoskom district, as reported by Leopolis.news.
The city administration is demanding the demolition of the structure at 30 Maloholosko Street and the vacation of a land plot of 0.0043 hectares, which the city authorities consider to be "unlawfully occupied." The Lviv City Council refers to the chapel itself as a construction trailer and a small architectural form (MAF). The dispute over the facility has been ongoing since 2021.
Previously, the Commercial Court of Lviv Oblast and the Western Appellate Commercial Court both denied the city council's claims. In particular, during the proceedings, the city administration failed to prove that the land plot had been occupied unlawfully. Following this, in June 2026, the city authorities filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court.
OCU representative Oleksiy Dehtiarenko claims that the plot was granted for use to the Bekar family back in the 1960s and was later transferred to the religious community. According to him, the land use rights were never officially revoked. Community representatives also state that the chapel was received in 2021 from the religious community of the "Holy Spirit" of the Ivano-Frankivsk Eparchy of the UAOC.
The hearing of the cassation appeal in case No. 914/1810/25 is scheduled for August 18, 2026, in Kyiv. OCU representatives hope to preserve the chapel and subsequently legalize the land plot, while the Lviv City Council continues to insist on the dismantling of the structure and the vacation of the territory.
