On July 20, 2023, the first court hearing was held in the Economic Court of Kyiv on the claim of the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” against the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery. 40 monks came to the meeting. This was reported by the Information and Education Department of the UOC with reference to the press service of the monastery.

Commenting on the court session, the monastery’s lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, said that the Kiev Economic Court refused to involve the inhabitants of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra as third parties in the case of their eviction from the monastery.

“Monks arrived at the court session today, who filed applications to involve them in the case as third parties, since the decision to evict them will affect their rights and obligations,” Father Nikita said, “But the court neglected their right, justifying this by the fact that that the dispute concerns two legal entities and that the alleged decision to evict the monastery will in no way affect the monks who live there.”

The lawyer called this decision of the court absurd and noted that “its legality will be assessed on appeal.”