Ostapenko: Dormition Cathedral is one of the pantheons of Ukrainian history

Maksym Ostapenko. Photo: screenshot from the Shelter YouTube channel

Maksym Ostapenko, director general of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, called the Dormition Cathedral one of the largest pantheons of Ukrainian history in an interview with Shelter, describing the monastery’s main cathedral as the burial place of prominent state and church figures.

“The Dormition Cathedral is one of the largest historical pantheons of Ukrainian history,” Ostapenko said. “Many great figures found their final resting place within these walls.” The reserve director expressed dissatisfaction that Field Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, who was involved in the abolition of the Zaporizhian Sich, is buried in the cathedral, while there is no tomb of Ostafiy Dashkovych, whom he described as the founder of the Sich.

Ostapenko also spoke of what he called “imperial monuments” near the Far Caves, describing the area as “a pantheon of the Russian aristocracy, generals, governors and various landowners.” He lamented that there are no Cossack graves, Ukrainian hetmans or princes buried around the Dormition Cathedral.

Asked by the interviewer about the reserve’s plans regarding the possible reburial of Stolypin, Ostapenko only replied that Stolypin represented “the pinnacle of the Russian pantheon in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” and added: “We must reclaim our names, we must know them, and we must show what Ukrainians did before the imperial period and how they shaped various spheres.”

As the UOJ previously reported, Maksym Ostapenko said the Lavra should become a “Ukrainian Vatican.”

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