Monks’ Access Further Restricted at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

Reserve staff outside the Exaltation of the Cross Church. Photo: Fr Nykyta Chekman/Telegram

KYIV, UKRAINE — Staff of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra national reserve cut off locks and replaced them on two more churches in the Lower Lavra on February 17, 2026, effectively blocking the brotherhood of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) from access to the shrines.

According to Lavra attorney Archpriest Nykyta Chekman, reserve workers forced entry into the Exaltation of the Cross Church and the Church of All the Venerable Fathers of the Caves—known as the Warm Church—on the same day a court hearing was held regarding the monks’ access to churches in the Upper Lavra. Video published from the scene shows several men with tool cases carrying out technical work at one of the entrances.

The move follows the Ministry of Culture’s earlier announcement that, before Great Lent, it intended to block the UOC brotherhood’s access to nearly all Lavra churches except the Agapitus Church, located outside the monastic enclosure. On February 2, the Ministry also granted two Lower Lavra buildings—including a residence tied to Metropolitan Onuphry—to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) for free use. 

Previously, the UOJ reported that thieves stole bells and other sacred items from the Sviatohirsk Lavra Skete.

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