In Pereyaslav, the Soviet space museum continues to function in the building of an Orthodox church

The Ukrainian Culture Ministry has submitted a report on the activities of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve “Pereyaslav”, which includes a unique wooden church of St. Paraskeva, still used as a museum of Soviet-era space. This became known from the publication of Deputy Minister of Culture Ivan Verbitsky, as reported by the publication SPJ.

The exposition of the museum, located inside the iconic structure, includes models of moon rovers, rescue capsules with inscriptions “USSR”, models of launch positions of the Baikonur Cosmodrome and samples of food for astronauts. It is noteworthy that on the walls of the temple instead of traditional icons there are photos of Soviet cosmonauts. Despite Ukraine’s long history of independence, the museum has never been moved to a more suitable location for a secular exhibition.

The publication of the report followed the recent events in St. Michael’s Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, from which the security forces evicted the monks. Ivan Verbitsky described these actions as the return of the complex to the use of the reserve after “unauthorized seizure” by a religious organization. At the same time, the official did not specify how the administration of the reserve plans to further exploit the premises of St. Michael’s Church.

We will remind, on May 11, 2026 in Pereyaslav there was a forceful seizure of St. Michael’s Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Representatives of the police and the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve “Pereyaslav” with the support of special units expelled the abbot and parishioners from the monastery, completely blocking the territory of the shrine .