“Parishioners” bused in from other regions for Dumenko’s “service” at Lavra

0“parishioners” were brought in from other regions for Serhiy Dumenko’s “service” at the Refectory Church of the Kyiv Caves Lav. Photo: Fortetsia Lavra Telegram channel

On March 8, 2026, “parishioners” were brought in from other regions for Serhiy Dumenko’s “service” at the Refectory Church of the Kyiv Caves Lavra. The information, along with photographs, was posted on the Telegram channel Fortetsia Lavra.

“Starting at around 8 in the morning, buses began arriving at the monastery and unloading OCU supporters. The license plates on the buses are not from Kyiv. Some of them came from Ternopil,” the channel’s authors wrote. The photos show several large buses parked near the entrance to the Lavra. One of them – a Van Hool TD927 Astromega with Ternopil-region plates – belongs to the company Ternvoyazh.

After the event, the buses pulled back up to the entrance and took the people away.

As a reminder, regular OCU “services” in the Refectory and Dormition churches of the Kyiv Caves Lavra usually draw only five to ten people, some of whom are tourists.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Dumenko, the OCU had gained control over the Near Caves.

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