MinCulture offers new explanation for dismissal of Lavra Reserve Director
Maksym Ostapenko. Photo: df.news
The Ministry of Culture has stated that Maksym Ostapenko, Director General of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Reserve, was dismissed due to the operation of a café in a historic building and unauthorized renovation work. This was reported by ministry representatives during a meeting with journalists on May 22, 2025, according to UP.Kultura.
According to Oleksiy Zhukov, head of the commission inspecting the reserve, violations included a café operating in a 19th-century building known as the Abbot’s House. He claimed that “the reserve’s management had no founding documents for the use of the premises,” yet the café continued to operate in May despite the commission’s remarks.
“The management stated it was a one-time event, but the café continued to operate,” Zhukov said. He added that using such premises requires authorization from the Ministry’s relevant department and approval from the State Property Fund.
Other complaints included repair work allegedly carried out without proper approval from the Ministry. This included painting walls and other maintenance that the reserve considered routine and not subject to special permissions. The Ministry disagreed. “This is damage to a monument. Each landmark must be preserved in its authentic form,” said Volodymyr Shornikov, Director of the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.
Officials also criticized the slow pace of repairs in the buildings formerly leased by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. They claimed that now “Ministry restorers” are forced to carry out restoration work themselves.
As previously reported by the UOJ, Minister of Culture Mykola Tochystkyi initially stated that he had dismissed Ostapenko for his “failure to adequately combat the ‘Moscow spirit’” in the Lavra.
Read also
MP demands answers from Rivne authorities over UOC charity event
Bobrovska expressed outrage that city officials allowed the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC to hold a charity festival that raised money for children with cancer.
In U.S., Archbishop of Albania leads Divine Liturgy on Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Primate of the Albanian Church served in Massachusetts and called for visible unity among Orthodox jurisdictions.
Phanar backs common Easter date with Catholics and Protestants
Theologians of the Patriarchate of Constantinople have proposed revising calendar practice and bringing the celebration of Easter closer to the Western tradition.
DESS congratulates Ukraine’s Jews on Purim
The State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience addressed Ukraine’s Jewish community on the occasion of Purim.
Patriarch Bartholomew becomes honorary professor of ecology in Greece
The Ionian University of Greece has awarded Patriarch Bartholomew the honorary title of professor in its Department of Environment.
Phanar’s shift to new calendar triggered Orthodox schism – ROCOR hierarch
Metropolitan Mark called Constantinople’s adoption of the Gregorian calendar the main source of divisions in the Orthodox world.