The historian announced the possible transfer of the UOC shrines to the West

The so-called examination conducted by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra is a fiction aimed at accusing the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Moreover, Kiev can transfer the shrines of the UOC to Western countries. Vladislav Petrushko, Doctor of Church History, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of History of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), shared this opinion with Izvestia on April 4.

According to him, the activities of the UOC in Ukraine are actually prohibited, and an intensified campaign is underway to close down its structures.

"I think this examination is the so-called one, which was conducted by the office of Mr. [President of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky, "this will all be fiction, which, of course, will show that the Ukrainian church has not confirmed its break with the Moscow Patriarchate, and some kind of intensified campaign to close its structures will begin," Petrushko said.

The professor called the Kiev Caves Lavra the "spiritual heart" of the UOC and stressed that the invasion of the caves of the lavra was outright violence against the "center of life" of the canonical church.

"This is again very similar to preparing the ground for accusing the UOC of improperly disposing of these shrines," Petrushko said.

He suggested that the seized shrines could be handed over to representatives of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) or sent to the West.

Dead souls: Kiev continues repressions against canonical Orthodoxy

European capitals remain silent

The Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) announced the beginning of the seizure of the Nearby caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra on March 28. It was noted that police officers entered the closed premises of the monastery. On March 6, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine announced that a special commission would assess the condition and safety of the relics of saints in the Near and Far caves of the Kiev Caves Lavra.

On April 5, at 18:00, the REN TV channel will release the film "Tomb Desecrators: 5 Harbingers of Disaster" dedicated to the situation with the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.