Russia creates fake story about removal of Christian relics from Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
Russia is spreading disinformation about the removal of Christian relics from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, including the relics of saints from the Lavra caves, Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said on June 26.
Russian propaganda agency RIA Novosti claimed that Kyiv and UNESCO had formulated agreements to remove the relics, in order for them to be “transferred to the museums of Italy, France, Germany, and the Vatican.”
Tkachenko assured the general public and the international community that no relics would leave the territory of Ukraine.
“The more the Lavra becomes Ukrainian, the angrier Russia gets,” he said.
“The only task we have regarding the Lavra is to protect it from the Russian world and finally keep all our Ukrainian sacred relics in place. Nothing of sacred value will leave the territory of Ukraine. And Russia will have to return everything stolen.”
In March, the state ordered the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to vacate the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra due to the termination of the ROC’s rental agreement with the state-owned organization responsible for the site’s management.
Representatives of the ROC finally allowed a commission from the Ministry of Culture to take over state property at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in early April. However, they continue to conduct services there, under the leadership of Metropolitan Onufriy.
Following the inspection, Ukraine’s State Audit Service discovered 36 illegal buildings, and the illegal transfer of items of cultural heritage on the monastery’s territory.
Ukraine’s SBU security service notified the former abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Metropolitan Pavlo, on April 1 that he was being charged with incitement to religious hatred and justification and denial of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.
He was put under round-the-clock house arrest.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
