Court postpones hearing on Upper Lavra to May 21

During the hearings, the judge rejected the monks' petition to participate in the case as a third party.
On May 12, 2025, a hearing took place at the Northern Appellate Commercial Court concerning the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery's lawsuit against the National Reserve over the right to use the churches of the Upper Lavra. This was reported by the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra's lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman.
During the hearing on April 28, a monk from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra filed a third-party petition, expressing his desire to declare the violation of his rights to freely practice any religion and the obstruction of conducting religious rites.
The court dismissed the petition, citing that he had not participated in the case during the first instance. Immediately, a similar appeal was filed by another monk of the Lavra. The court also rejected this.
As a result, the judge decided to postpone the hearing to May 21 at 16:00.
According to the Save_Lavra Telegram channel, the monastery's lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, has another hearing scheduled for 15:30 on that day. The second lawyer also has a hearing at that time. However, the court ignored the defenders' requests to reschedule the court session for another day.
As the UOJ previously reported, the Supreme Court is set to consider the legality of Zelensky's decree against the Pechersk Lavra.