Reserve employee assures that Lavra monks create reserve themselves in USSR

Kateryna Voievudska. Photo: a screenshot of the YouTube channel “Ukrainska Pravda”

An employee of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Reserve Kateryna Voievudska said in a comment to “Ukrainska Pravda” that in the 1920s monks of the monastery allegedly initiated the closure of the monastery themselves and the creation of a historical and cultural state reserve.

"The once majestic monastery was occupied by the Bolsheviks. Monks from here began to be evicted. And those monks who stayed here are initiating the establishment of a museum here for the sake of preserving the unique architectural ensemble," Voievudska said.

The employee of the Reserve said that in March 2023, the monks of Lavra were offered to vacate the Lower Lavra. "In a legal way, we are trying to clear the territory. That is, there is a return of the monuments of the Lower Lavra to state ownership," Voievudska said.

She also noted that the name of the Lavra Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos was introduced by Russians in the XVIII-XIX centuries and "its historical name is the Big Church of Pechersk".

As earlier reported, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra filed a complaint with the police against the head of the Reserve for inciting hatred.

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