The Government of Ukraine has entered Sviatogorsk Lavra into the State Register of Cultural Heritage

On the initiative of the Ministry of Culture, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has included 13 cultural heritage sites of national importance located in Donetsk Region in the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine. The updated list includes such significant shrines as the complex of buildings of the Svyatogorsk Holy Assumption Lavra and the St. Nicholas Church in Druzhkovka.

According to the official website of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, as of today 34,333 objects have already been included in the register, of which 2,710 have the status of national importance. Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy Tetyana Berezhnaya noted that strengthening the protection of monuments is necessary in the conditions of constant attempts to destroy them, which emphasizes the importance of compliance with the norms of international humanitarian law.

Special importance in the list is given to St. Nicholas Church in Druzhkivka, which has become an architectural dominant of the city center. The status of national heritage was also confirmed for the Sviatogorsk Dormition Monastery, one of the oldest spiritual centers of eastern Ukraine. The first mention of this place is found in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1111, and the history of the cave complex, according to researchers, may predate the Baptism of Rus. Today the monastery ensemble includes unique multi-level caves and ground temples located along the river bank at the foot of the chalk mountain.

Inclusion of these objects in the register is part of the large-scale work of the Ministry of Culture on updating the base of cultural heritage. Specialists of the Ministry conduct a systematic revision of the lists of the times of the Ukrainian SSR, clarifying the names, dates and exact location of objects to form a reliable and up-to-date database of the national heritage.

Earlier, former Right Sector head Dmytro Yarosh said that the Holy Assumption Svyatogorsk Lavra should be handed over to the control of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.