After Lavra Caves' transfer to OCU, Dumenko promptly “tonsures” two monks
Dumenko and two new monks of the OCU. Photo: OCU
On March 15, 2026, Serhiy Dumenko performed a monastic “tonsure” for two men in the Near Caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra: Oleksandr Beskrovnyi and Maxym Palahnin. The OCU website says they are students of the OCU Theological Academy.
At the same time, the press service of St. Michael’s Monastery claims that until recently Beskrovnyi was listed as a member of the monastery’s brotherhood, though in the rank of priest. Palahnin served as an altar assistant at the Warm Church of St. Sophia of Kyiv.
Monastic tonsure in the OCU is a rare occurrence. A search of the OCU’s official website no longer shows any other reports of similar events.
It should be recalled that Yaroslav Yasenets, a former cleric of this structure, has claimed that until recently the “OCU Lavra” had six monks. All of them, he says, are employees of the reserve.
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