Ministry of Culture dismisses head of Kyiv Cave Monastery National Reserve Maksym Ostapenko

On May 21, 2025, the head of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, Mykola Tochytskyi, signed a decree dismissing Maksym Ostapenko as the director general of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. According to Ostapenko, he was not warned of his dismissal and the reasons were not explained. This was reported by Livyi Bereh (Left Bank).

“While we were preparing a large-scale exhibition in the Lavra, I received news that was unexpected – by order of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, I was dismissed from the post of head of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. I hope that tomorrow I will at least receive an explanation for myself and the staff of what is happening,” – Ostapenko said.

The official hinted that his dismissal may be due to the fact that he actively fought against the “imperial past” of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. According to him, “many people did not like it.”

“We felt pressure. Obviously, someone was uncomfortable with the fact that we spoke out loud about the need to cleanse the Lavra of imperial narratives. Someone was disturbed by the truth. Someone was disturbed by our integrity,” – Ostapenko emphasized.

As reported, Ostapenko recently complained that the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church do not want to voluntarily leave the territory of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.