Police open a criminal case on the museum items missing from Lavra

The Holy Dotmition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

Criminal proceedings are registered by the National Police based on materials from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), reports the press service of the agency.

“Based on the materials of the SSU, the Investigative Department of the National Police registered criminal proceedings under Part 3 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it through abuse of official position) upon embezzlement of valuables that were deposited with officials of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

“Investigative actions are underway,” the press service says.

As the UOJ reported, earlier the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine called the list of items from the collection of the National Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve, which were deposited with the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra during 1966-2000 and not found during the inventory in 2018. The list includes 8 icons of the end of the XIX century, a wooden cross and a chalice.

According to the abbot of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, at the opening of the Lavra during the period 1988-2000, 829 items were transferred from the Kiev-Pechersk Nature Reservу – 279 from the main fund, the rest from the auxiliary scientific collection – to permanent storage and not for temporary use. He explained that 10 items from the auxiliary scientific collection which were missing have no special historical value.

He also added that under his vicegerency (since 1994) nothing was transferred from the reserve.

The revision of the museum items deposited with the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was conducted in November 2018.

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