Ministry of Culture plans to transfer all Lavra churches to OCU, source says

Reserve staff outside the Exaltation of the Cross Church. Photo: Fr Nykyta Chekman’s Telegram channel

Before Great Lent, the Ministry of Culture intends to block the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra brotherhood’s access to all churches of the monastery, excluding the Agapitus Church, which is effectively located outside the monastic enclosure. The churches are to be handed over to the OCU. The UOJ learned this from its own sources.

On the morning of February 17, 2026, reserve staff broke in and replaced the locks on the last two churches to which the monks still had access – the Exaltation of the Cross Church and the Church of All the Venerable Fathers of the Caves (the Warm Church). As a result, on the eve of Great Lent the brotherhood reportedly has nowhere to serve except the Conception of St Anne Church. Access to the shrines is to be given to six OCU monks who additionally serve as employees of the Ministry of Culture.

Recall that on February 2, 2026, the Ministry of Culture announced that two buildings in the lower part of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra were being granted to the OCU for free use: Building No. 70, which housed the residence of Metropolitan Onufriy, and Building No. 49, which contained the chancery of the UOC Kyiv Metropolia.

Read also