A senior official of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine linked the fire at the Assumption Cathedral to the sacrilegious actions of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra reserve

Vasyl Shlapak, head of the Zhytomyr Diocese of the OCU, stated that the fire and damage at the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra may be “God’s will” for holding blasphemous events at the monastery that were not related to its direct mission. He wrote about this on his Facebook account.

In his post, Shlapak linked the incident to the fact that entertainment events, including dancing, singing, and cooking shows, were allowed in the Lavra’s churches during the war, particularly during the Christmas holidays.

In his assessment, Shlapak called such actions “an affront to God” and declared the need for ecclesiastical punishment for those involved. As one example, he cited a performance by singer Olga Polyakova wearing a crown of thorns against the backdrop of a cross, deeming this unacceptable for a church setting.

It is worth noting that the misuse of religious buildings seized from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church provokes outrage not only among representatives of the UOC and the OCU, but even among Roman Catholics. Recently, Vitaliy Kryvitsky, head of the Kyiv-Zhytomyr Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, criticized the holding of various shows and performances in the Refectory Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Kryvytskyi compared what is happening to the era of communist atheism, when churches were turned into museums, warehouses, and other spaces used for purposes other than their intended ones. In addition, he noted that there are still a huge number of Catholic churches in Ukraine that are being used for purposes other than their intended ones.