Ex-MP Approved Reserve’s Actions to Oust the UOC from the Lavra

Former Member of Parliament of Ukraine and singer Yevhen Rybchynskyi boasted that the acting director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Reserve, Svitlana Kotliarevska, managed to “take from the Moscow priests even the keys to the caves.” He published this information after his visit to the Lavra and his meeting with the reserve’s management. This was reported by the “First Cossack” channel.

According to Rybchynskyi, the main churches of the Lavra have come under state control, and “services” there are conducted exclusively by the structure headed by Epiphanius Dumenko. He also added that, in his words, in order to evict the UOC parish from the Resurrection (Afghan) Church, the “will of the highest state leadership” is required.

The ex-MP stated that, in his opinion, it is impossible to preserve the caves and architectural monuments without the state budget. However, it is known that for many years the monks of the monastery and the faithful of the UOC maintained them in proper condition without state funding.

Earlier, it was reported that the head of the Charitable Foundation “Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves,” Denys Rozov, published a statement accusing the acting head of the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra,” Svitlana Kotliarevska, of corruption and embezzlement of state funds. Rozov claims that, using the funding she received, Kotliarevska directed it for her own purposes, inflating the cost of various projects.