Court strips UOC's Lebedyn monastery of its bell tower in Cherkasy region
A court upheld a prosecutor's lawsuit, stripping a UOC convent in the Cherkasy Eparchy of ownership of a 19th-century architectural landmark.
The Commercial Court of the Cherkasy Region has upheld a lawsuit filed by the Zvenyhorodka District Prosecutor's Office, transferring ownership of the bell tower of the UOC's St. Nicholas Lebedyn Convent to the state. The Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor's Office reported the ruling.
According to prosecutors, the convent registered ownership of the bell tower in 2010 in violation of cultural heritage protection regulations and without obtaining approval from the relevant authorities. On these grounds, prosecutors sought to revoke the monastic community's ownership rights and transfer the structure to the state. The court granted the lawsuit in full.
The Prosecutor's Office described the ruling as a measure to "ensure the preservation of a unique landmark." Built in 1839, the bell tower is an architectural monument of national significance and has been listed on the state register of protected heritage sites since 1973. Prosecutors also acknowledged the monastery's importance to the historical and cultural heritage of the Cherkasy region.
As the UOJ previously reported, a court in Volyn denied 200 UOC believers the right to participate in proceedings concerning Myltsi Monastery.
