Ukraine: UOC Diocese of Chernihiv will keep using buildings of the Yelets Convent

On 28 July 2025, the Commercial Court of Chernihiv Oblast refused the claim of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve ‘Ancient Chernihiv’ to evict the monastic community of the Yelets Convent. The Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reports with reference to suspilne.media. This court decision allows the diocese to keep using part of the premises of the monastery complex gratis, namely, in particular, the buildings where nuns of the convent dwell.

Forty-five nuns currently reside at the convent. The oldest of them have already turned 92, 90, and 84. ‘The nuns are of a very venerable age. And there are a lot of the sick there. There are even premises where bedridden patients are’, stress members of the religious community. 

As noted by the convent, the right to use the monastery buildings is established by a decision of the executive committee of the Chernihiv Regional Council dated 31 December 1991. The full text of the court decision will be published on 7 August. Officials of the reserve have yet to decide whether they will appeal. (Quelle: www.uoc-news.church, 30. Juli 2025)