MinCulture fails to seize Lavra buildings 57-58 without security forces

The Ministry of Culture failed to seize the Lavra's new buildings without security forces. Photo: UOJ

On July 10, 2023, the commission of the reserve represented by acting directors M. Ostapenko and A. Ovchar tried to break into the 57th and 58th buildings of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in order to seal them and replace the locks. However, the priests and believers did not let representatives of the Ministry of Culture inside, the UOJ correspondent reports.

The commission had to withdraw.

One of Lavra's lawyers, Volodymyr Lubyanetsky, in a comment to seminarian Mykhailo Pratsiuk, stated that representatives of the Ministry of Culture were unable to seize the building without security forces.

"Today, parishioners stood near the buildings 57 and 58 as a human shield, and, accordingly, they did not manage to seize the buildings," said the lawyer. He connects this with the fact that this time there were no special forces with the commission.

"Nobody knows when there will be the next go-ahead for seizure, and whether forceful methods will be used then," concluded Lubyanetsky.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the Ministry of Culture demanded that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church vacate two more buildings of the Lavra.

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