{"id":1030337,"date":"2026-06-16T14:32:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1030337\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:32:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:32:23","slug":"russian-attack-against-kyivs-holiest-monastery-shows-kremlins-desire-to-wipe-out-ukraine-heritage-says-theologian-euobserver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1030337\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian attack against Kyiv\u2019s holiest monastery shows Kremlin\u2019s desire to wipe out Ukraine heritage, says theologian \u2013 EUobserver"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/denikn.cz\/2095539\/proc-moskva-zautocila-na-symbol-pokrteni-rusi-ukrajinsky-teolog-vysvetluje-vyznam-kyjevskopecerske-lavry\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">First published in Den\u00edk N.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter the start of the full-scale invasion, the question of who would control the Lavra arose immediately,\u201d candidate of theological sciences of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and analyst at the Institute for European Security Studies Lubomyr Slonets said in an interview. He explained why today\u2019s Russian attack on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra had a symbolic dimension.<\/p>\n<p>A lavra is the highest status an Orthodox (or Greek Catholic) monastery can obtain. There are only twelve in the world, with the oldest being the Great Lavra of Saint Sabbas in Palestine from the fifth century.<\/p>\n<p>Others include the Great Lavra on Mount Athos in Greece or the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine is exceptional in this respect, because there are as many as four lavras on its territory \u2013 alongside the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv there is the Pochaiv Lavra in the west, the Sviatohirsk Lavra in the Donbas, and the only Greek Catholic lavra, the Univ Lavra near Lviv.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In the interview you will also learn:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>what the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra means for Ukrainians,<\/li>\n<li>why the Russians attacked it,<\/li>\n<li>what the difference is between the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Could you explain to readers what the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra means for Ukrainian history and culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Saint Sophia Cathedral and Saint Michael\u2019s Monastery in Kyiv essentially represent the beginning of Ukrainian culture. These are among the oldest buildings, which at the time played one of the most important roles \u2013 as administrative as well as religious centres \u2013 in the history of Ukraine and, more generally, in the formation of Ukrainian identity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And what is its significance today?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The same. The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is a symbol of the baptism of Rus (in the year 988, editor\u2019s note), just like Saint Sophia Cathedral.<\/p>\n<p>When we recall the materials on the start of the occupation of Crimea (2014), it began with <a href=\"https:\/\/euobserver.com\/221029\/russias-chess-king-and-church-head-face-new-threat-of-eu-visa-ban-sanctions\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/euobserver.com\/221029\/russias-chess-king-and-church-head-face-new-threat-of-eu-visa-ban-sanctions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Russian Patriarch Kirill <\/a>visiting Crimea and bringing there the relics of saints. At the same time, Girkin (former commander of pro-Russian nationalists from the eastern Ukrainian Donbas, editor\u2019s note) and other Russian agents were part of his delegation.<\/p>\n<p>In the countries of the former Soviet Union, the Church did not play only a religious role. It was an important driving force behind the existence of statehood, and statehood was an important driving force behind the existence of the Church.<\/p>\n<p>Even today, the struggle over the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is one of the pillars on which the revival of Ukrainian identity rests. After the start of the full-scale invasion, the question immediately arose: who would control the Lavra, who would have influence there, who would be the metropolitan \u2013 a Ukrainian or a Russian? To Europeans, it may seem like an ordinary church, but from Ukraine\u2019s point of view it has always been a very important element.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2309\" height=\"1732\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG3335.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-222146\"  \/><br \/>The influence of the Moscow Patriarchate on Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is waning. Source: Anastasiia Furman\/Den\u00edk N.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What have the Russians caused by attacking the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra? What could be the <strong>cultural heritage<\/strong><\/strong> <strong>consequences?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Enormous. It is one of the oldest churches.<\/p>\n<p>Metropolitan Filaret had his seat precisely in the Lavra (after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Filaret headed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and later sought its independence from Moscow, editor\u2019s note). He convened the first synod of the 1990s there. It was in the Lavra that voting took place on autocephaly and the independence of the Church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First published in Den\u00edk N. \u201cAfter the start of the full-scale invasion, the question of who would control&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1030338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7654],"tags":[217083,2000,299,218484,218481,218479,218482,218480,218483,657],"class_list":["post-1030337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ukraine","tag-typedefinedterm","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-identifier24","tag-identifier4308","tag-namerussia","tag-nameukraine","tag-termcoderussia","tag-termcodeukraine","tag-ukraine"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116760279034167704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1030338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}