Ukrainian Officials Claim Yuri Dolgorukiy Is Buried in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra

Maxim Ostapenko, the Director General of the National Reserve «Kyiv Pechersk Lavra,» stated that Yuri Dolgorukiy might be buried in the Church of the Savior at Berestove — one of Kyiv’s oldest churches located within the Lavra complex. According to him, the 12th-century church was a princely burial site of the Monomakhovichi dynasty, and it is likely that Vladimir Monomakh’s son, Prince Yuri, rests here or nearby. He shared this information in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

Ostapenko noted that in the 1990s, the Moscow city administration attempted to gain control over this part of the Lavra but was refused. Archaeological excavations in the area have uncovered over 700 burials, but the exact location of Yuri Dolgorukiy’s grave has not yet been established.

It is worth mentioning that the oldest Orthodox church in Kyiv, known as the Church of the Savior at Berestove, has been “deconserved” and turned into a museum. The church, which was previously often used for religious purposes by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, will now function as a museum space. The National Reserve «Kyiv Pechersk Lavra» has already organized the first tours there.