Criminal case opened against Lavra's acting head after meeting with Dumenko
Lower Lavra. Photo: Telegram channel “Lavra Now”
On June 3, 2025, the complaint filed by the brotherhood of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was upheld regarding the failure to enter information about a violation against the monastery into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, reports the Lavra’s attorney, Archpriest Nikita Chekman.
A Kyiv court has ordered the Podil District Police Department to enter into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations a report of a criminal offense allegedly committed by Svitlana Kotliarevska, the acting general director of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Reserve. According to the monastery’s legal representative, the offense took place during Kotliarevska’s meeting with Epifaniy Dumenko.
It should be noted that during a meeting between the head of the OCU and Kotliarevska, they discussed the “cleansing” of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra from representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The monks regard such statements as incitement to religious hatred (Article 161, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and a threat to the rights of UOC believers who remain at the Lavra.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that a criminal case was also opened against an SBU officer for his activities in the Lavra.
Read also
U.S. bishops call for Church unity on Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Assembly of Bishops of the USA has issued an encyclical for the Triumph of Orthodoxy on Church unity, veneration of icons, and support for pan-Orthodox ministry.
OCU organizes harassment of businessman for aiding UOC
Hryshchuk called for boycotting the business of the entrepreneur who built a UOC church in the Rivne region.
Head of Lavra Reserve: I believe UOC monks will move to the OCU
Ostapenko said there are 140 UOC monks and novices on the territory of the Lower Lavra.
"Shield of Judah": Biblical name given to operations against Iran
A joint Israeli–US military operation against Iran has received a code name referencing the biblical forefather of the Jewish royal line.
In Syria, Islamic militants behead statues of Christ and Virgin Mary
Vandals beheaded statues of the Lord and the Mother of God at the entrance to the "Cave of the Virgin Mary" in the village of Al-Basiya near the coastal city of Banias in Syria.
Icon with particle of Gabriel Urgebadze's relics to be brought to Uzhhorod from Georgia
The holy icon, painted in Georgia, will be brought to the Holy Trinity Church of the Mukachevo Eparchy of the UOC.