MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. In violation of church traditions, staff at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra reserve are removing reliquaries containing the relics of saints from the Lower Caves and engaging in unspecified manipulations with them, the Union of Orthodox Journalists has said.

"Employees of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra museum are removing the reliquaries of our venerable Fathers of the Caves and performing some manipulations with them. Some men dragged the relics of the saints, which the faithful were allowed to touch directly with great reverence only in exceptional cases, into the yard and are treating them as some kind of exhibits," the union's Telegram channel stated.

The Union of Russian Orthodox Journalists published a photograph of the incident and noted that the re-dressing of relics can only be performed by monks in holy orders, in compliance with all church traditions. "With prayer, candles and special reverence, so as not to lose the slightest particle. In the photo we can see rough handling, overturned trays and a complete sense that the shrine has become an ‘exhibit’," the Union added.

In March 2023, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Museum-Reserve unilaterally terminated its lease with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). In early July, the inventory commission of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine arrived at the Lavra and, with police support, changed the locks, seized and sealed the buildings. In August of the same year, a court recognized the termination of the lease and the authorities' claims to the monastery property as legal. The UOC challenged this decision.

Subsequently, access to the Lower Lavra was closed to visitors, and students and employees of the Kiev Theological Academy and Seminary were barred from the territory. Some people who refused to leave the hotel buildings were blocked. The police and authorities' seizure of the Lavra was accompanied by protests from parishioners. At the same time, the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) began holding festive services in the Lavra's main church - the Assumption Cathedral.