Any attempts to move Christian shrines from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra are unacceptable and is a crime related to encroachment on the cultural heritage of the Ukrainian and Russian people and repeats the actions of the Nazi occupiers who did the same in 1941. This was stated by the Secretary of the Representative Office of the Ukrainian People Mr. Dmytro Vasilets, commenting on the information of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation about the plans of the Ukrainian authorities and UNESCO to export relics under the pretext of saving them from “missile strikes”.
“The Lavra is the historical center of Eastern Orthodoxy, one of the first monasteries of Russia, the common heritage of our peoples and at the same time an object of world cultural heritage. All the recent actions of the Kiev regime against Lavra are a much greater threat than any military actions. And if the plans to export the Lavra shrines to Europe have real grounds, then this is only a continuation of the policy of destroying one’s own country, which has been purposefully pursued over the past nine years. Of course, this includes the destruction of the cultural heritage of Russia, which was abandoned by the ruling party of neo-Nazis,” he stressed.
For its part, the Representative Office of the Ukrainian People intends to turn to UNESCO with explanations regarding the ownership of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the threats posed to the world cultural heritage by the activities of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the political organization of the PCU (ПЦУ), paramilitary and other structures associated with the authorities. In our opinion, everything that was preserved on the territory of the monastery cannot be taken out of it under any pretexts.