Mayor of Pereiaslav organized illegal excavations at the monastery site, scattering monks’ remains

A scandal has erupted in Pereiaslav over works organized by the city authorities on the territory of the former Ascension Monastery. During earthworks carried out on August 27–28 at the instruction of Mayor Vyacheslav Saulko, ancient burials of the monastery’s brethren were disturbed. Human remains and the tombstone of Archimandrite Hennadiy (1857–1905) were unearthed and later moved to the city necropolis. This was reported by the “Pershyi Kozatskyi” channel.

The incident caused a strong public reaction. Member of Parliament Yuriy Bobrovnik called the monastery grounds “holy land of Ukraine” and criticized the mayor, who, after disturbing the monks’ graves, invited OCU clergy to perform prayers. “In ancient times, chroniclers would have called such a ruler accursed,” the MP stated.

Former adviser to President Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Tomenko, also expressed indignation. He described the illegal excavations as an example of “black archaeology and ignorance,” emphasizing that this concerns one of the most sacred sites in Ukrainian history.

Experts from the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve “Pereiaslav” confirmed that the works led to damage of the cultural layer of a monument of national significance.

Complaints against the mayor have already been submitted to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Culture, demanding a legal assessment of his actions.

Earlier we reported on how the head of the OCU, Epiphaniу Dumenko, commented on the “transfers” of Ukrainian Orthodox Church communities to the OCU and the resistance of believers during this process. According to him, the OCU seeks to ensure that transfers take place “with love and peacefully,” while all incidents during the seizures of churches, he claimed, are the work of “the enemy,” who is trying to “discredit the church on the international stage.”