Dumenko “consecrates” bust of Mazepa at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

Epifaniy Dumenko. Photo: OCU

On July 14, OCU head Epifaniy Dumenko performed a rite of “consecration” for a bust of Hetman Ivan Mazepa on the grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the OCU press service reports.

Together with Epifaniy, representatives of the authorities and the National Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" took part in the event.

In his address, Dumenko claimed that “the restoration of historical truth and memory” was directly connected with the revival of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. According to him, this “restoration of historical memory” has “provoked an acute reaction from the enemy.”

The OCU head also mentioned the planned construction of a National Pantheon near the Lavra, where the memory of “distinguished Ukrainians scattered throughout the world” would be honored. He claimed that their graves had been “deliberately destroyed by the aggressor country.”

Concluding his speech, he claimed that the spirit of the “Russian world” was gradually leaving the monastery.

“The sinister and murderous spirit of the ‘Russian world’ is gradually dissipating from this holy monastery,” Epifaniy said.

As the UOJ previously reported, the Ministry of Culture “opened” the Lavra’s Far Caves to the OCU.

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