Ostapenko: It was necessary to seize Lavra with the help of National Guard
According to the head of the reserve, there was a favorable moment for the rapid establishment of control over the Kyiv Caves Lavra by force in May last year.
Acting General Director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Reserve Maxym Ostapenko believes that the monastery should have been taken under control in the spring of 2022 with the involvement of the National Guard. He stated this in an interview with ukrinform.ua.
“One had been better off starting it in May last year, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine had just driven the enemy away from the capital,” the official said. “Then it was necessary, relatively speaking, to cordon off the territory by the National Guard and check all the premises, determine their legal and technical regime of use, and only after that conclude some new agreements. But then the state was already fighting in other directions – Sumy, Kharkiv region, a lot of things fell on it ... And some of the representatives of the Church, their agents, who really are in constant contact with Russia, spread their wings and began to exploit the fact that Ukraine is still a tolerant and legal state."
According to Ostapenko, representatives of the UOC, protecting the shrine by legal methods, allegedly act "against the interests" of Ukraine.
The head of the reserve added that he “would be happy” if by the end of the year the reserve took control of all the premises of the Lavra and the relics of the saints.
As reported by the UOJ, on July 19, 2023, the first meeting was held in the Commercial Court of Kyiv, dedicated to the consideration of the substance of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra's claim to invalidate the refusal of the reserve from the lease agreement.
