Inventory of relics of Kyiv Cave saints continues, - Ostapenko

The head of the Kyiv Cave Monastery National Reserve, Maksym Ostapenko, spoke about the inventory of shrines on the territory of the Holy Dormition Kyiv Cave Monastery. The official noted that the work on the “examination” of the relics of the Kyiv Cave Saints continues and will be completed in a few months. Ostapenko said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

“Due to the fact that for more than 30 years this object was owned by representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate (the caves were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 1980s), a commission created by the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine is currently conducting an inventory of the shrines that are there. This work should ensure the preservation of the unique complexes of the Near and Far Caves for future generations. This will be a very important stage and a very important task for the reserve, because it is the reserve that must fully preserve all monuments, including the shrines that are in the caves: iconostases, icons, relics. The state must understand the condition of these monuments, how everything related to these shrines is being done, because this is the heritage of the entire Ukrainian people. And this should be put under the control of the state, not individuals who are not accountable to Ukrainian society,” — the official said.

At the same time, Ostapenko accused the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of using the Kyiv Cave Monastery as a center for propaganda of the “Russian world.” The monks of the monastery, according to the official, worked for the FSB.

“Entire propaganda departments, print media, video and radio studios were created here, recorded and broadcast to a huge audience. But in reality, many of these ‘traditional’ values, as they call them, were written under the dictation of Patriarch Kirill and the FSB. On Google maps, one can still see inscriptions on the Lavra’s facilities that read “Propaganda Department of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine.” Unfortunately, a part of the Ukrainian people believed this propaganda, which we still feel today,” — he added.

It should be reminded that the commission of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, which is engaged in the “inventory” of the relics of the Kyiv-Pechersk saints, includes representatives of exotic specialties. According to the official data of the Decree of the Ministry of Culture, the commission will include, among others, embalming specialists, biologists, zoologists, and even veterinarians. The commission will work with the relics of the Kyiv Cave Saints until May 2025.