The acting Minister of Culture of Ukraine, Rostyslav Karandeyev, announced that monks of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) will be forcefully evicted from the Lower Lavra, where the main buildings of the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery are located, if they do not leave voluntarily within a month.

"There are court decisions, and the opposing side refuses to comply with them, they do not listen. What solution do you see? I am, of course, in favor of dialogue, but we need to be persistent. We are giving them a month. This is about the Lower Lavra. After that, the issue will be resolved by force," Karandeyev stated in an interview with the Ukrainian publication "Glavkom."

Karandeyev also mentioned that the inventory of the monastery's property is ongoing, and he expressed regret that "the process of transferring the Lavra is not as fast as we would like."

In March 2023, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve unilaterally terminated the lease agreement with the canonical church. Following this, UOC believers were denied access to the monastery's main church, the Assumption Cathedral. In early July, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture's inventory commission visited the Lavra and, with police assistance, sealed several monastery buildings. Believers protested against the authorities' takeover of the monastery, resulting in several people being trapped in the sealed buildings.

In August of the previous year, the court upheld the legality of the lease termination and the authorities' claims to the monastery's property. The entrance to the Lower Lavra, where the main monastery buildings are located, was closed to visitors. Additionally, students and staff of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary were barred from being on the Lavra's grounds. Despite the authorities' pressure, believers continue to gather at the Lavra for prayer vigils.