Pochaiv Lavra denies MinCulture permission to film on monastery grounds

Pochaiv Lavra. Photo: Monastery’s Telegram Channel

The Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra has denied the Ministry of Culture permission to conduct video filming on the monastery grounds. The corresponding document was published on the monastery’s Telegram channel.

On February 3, 2025, the Ministry of Culture, through the Deputy Director of the Kremenets-Pochaiv Reserve, I. Derevinsky, requested that the Lavra administration grant access to a filming crew.

In a response letter dated February 4, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Pochaiv and the monastery brethren refused the request, citing that the Lavra is a place of mass gatherings, and filming there during wartime is prohibited by law.

The Lavra referred to the decision of the Defense Council of Ternopil Region from March 31, 2022, which prohibits “photo and video recording in the region of checkpoints, military and critical infrastructure sites, buildings of state and executive authorities, local government bodies, enterprises, institutions, and organizations authorized to perform relevant functions, roads where they are located, as well as places of mass gatherings.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Pochaiv Lavra had filed a police report over an attempt at an illegal inventory inspection.

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