OCU monks now take full custody of relics of Kyiv Cave Monks, - Epiphany Dumenko

on February 24, 2026, the head of the OCU performed religious events in the Holy Exaltation of the Cross Church of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, located above the Near (Antoniiv) Caves. This event preceded the official transfer by the state of the shrines of the Near Caves to the control of the OCU. At the same time, Epiphany Dumenko said that the monastic community of the OCU would now take care of the relics of the Kyiv Caves monks. This was reported by the press service of the OCU.

It is reported that among the guests at the event were Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy of Ukraine — Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetyana Berezhna, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Olena Kovalska, Director General of the National Reserve «Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra» Maksym Ostapenko, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience Viktor Yelensky, Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Oleksandr Alfyorov and member of the platform «Cultural Forces» Yuriy Ivaskevich.

At the end of the «prayer service», the head of the OCU addressed the audience with a word of gratitude to all those involved in the process of expropriation of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in favor of the OCU.

«From now on, the monastic community of the Ukrainian Lavra receives the shrines of the Nearer St. Anthony Caves under its full custody to continue prayer and service to God and the faithful. To continue the work that was started in these caves by the founder of the monastery almost a millennium ago,» Metropolitan Epifaniy emphasized.

He also noted that this event testifies to the irreversibility of the process of liberation of the Lavra from the previously imposed «yoke of the Russian world». According to Dumenko, although gradually but surely, there is a movement towards the full restoration of this sacred place as the spiritual center of the OCU.

«Resistance to the aggressor has not only a material but also a spiritual dimension. Today, with this prayer and the beginning of a new stage in the life of the Kyiv Lavra, we testify that we will consistently fight for the restoration of historical justice for Ukraine. And we believe that with God’s help, under the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with the intercession of the Venerable Fathers of Kyiv Cave Monastery and all the saints of the Ukrainian people, we will achieve victory over the aggression of the «Russian world.» Let the Ukrainian sincere prayer for our people, for our defenders, for a long-lasting peace blessed by God never cease here!» he concluded.

Earlier, we reported that the Kyiv Cave Monastery National Reserve had rebranded the names of the saints whose imperishable relics rest in the caves of the Holy Dormition Kyiv Cave Monastery. The plaques with the names of the saints, which were previously written in Church Slavonic, have been translated into Ukrainian.