Official accuses Russians of stealing “Ukrainian saint” Demetrius of Rostov

Icon of St. Demetrius of Rostov. Photo: pravoslavie.ru

Roman Malenkov, director of the Ancient Kyiv National Reserve, has described St. Demetrius of Rostov as a “saint stolen by Russia” and urged Kyiv residents to vote in favor of naming a square after his family.

The official made the statement in response to a poll in the Kyiv Digital app, in which approximately 27% of participants opposed naming the square after the Tuptalo family.

According to Malenkov, residents are voting against the proposal because of the name Demetrius of Rostov (born Danylo Tuptalo), unaware that Russians had effectively “stolen” the saint because they supposedly could not find one of their own.

In his post, Malenkov claimed that the saint had been “forcibly” appointed to the Rostov episcopal see to “reform a backward Church.” He also attributed Demetrius's subsequent canonization to a desire to “conceal their own cultural and theological poverty behind the achievements of Kyiv's educational tradition.”

The official concluded by calling the case “a striking example of how Russia has appropriated Ukrainian intellectuals, talents, and spiritual heritage for centuries,” urging Kyiv residents to support the square's renaming.

As the UOJ previously reported, Malenkov had earlier announced the impending “disappearance” of UOC churches in Kyiv's Podil district.

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