Reserve refuses to provide information about manipulations over relics

Svitlana Kotliarevska. Photo: Kotliarevska's Facebook

The lawyer of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, reported on his Telegram channel about receiving an official response from the management of the National Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" to a lawyer's request related to the opening of reliquaries with the relics of Venerable Fathers and their transfer from the caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to storage facilities.

Instead of providing comprehensive and substantiated information, the acting director of the Reserve, S. Kotliarevska, actually refused to answer the essence of the question, stating that she needed permission from an investigator or prosecutor.

A similar situation occurred when the lawyer contacted the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine. The agency also refused to provide a response, stating: "To obtain information on questions 5 and 6 of your request, we recommend directly contacting the National Reserve 'Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra'."

The Lavra's lawyer emphasized that "such a position and 'shifting' of responsibility indicates conscious attempts to silence the real circumstances regarding the actions taken concerning the incorrupt relics and further evade responsibility for their actions."

In this regard, as reported by Archpriest Nikita Chekman, representatives of the Lavra filed a complaint with the Kyiv Region Bar Council to hold the guilty parties accountable under part 5 of Article 212-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and to prevent further desecration of the holy relics.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that UOC lawyers sent a request to the Ministry of Culture regarding the sacrilege of the venerable relics.

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