Russia Strongly Opposes Ukraine's Crackdown on World Heritage Monasteries

Security Personnel Deployed to Ukraine's 'Pechersk Lavra'... Targeting Russian-Supporting Clergy

Pechersk Lavra [Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] On the 22nd (local time), when agents of the Ukrainian Security Service conducted a crackdown at the historic monastery 'Pechersk Lavra' in the capital Kyiv, Russia strongly opposed it, calling it an "attack on the Russian Orthodox Church," BBC reported. The Ukrainian Security Service launched a search, claiming that there were clergy members within the monastery who were aiding Russia.

Pechersk Lavra was built as a cave monastery in 1051 during the Kyivan Rus Principality (882?1240), the root of Russia, and was designated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2013 along with Kyiv's Saint Sophia Cathedral.

Pechersk Lavra is owned by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which became independent from the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church in January 2019.

The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest denomination within the Eastern Orthodox Church. After Ukraine separated and gained independence from the Russian Federation in 1990, separate Orthodox church denominations began to emerge in Ukraine, and following Russia's forced annexation of Crimea in 2014, movements to gain independence from the Russian Orthodox Church became active within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In January 2019, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church officially received the Tomos (church decree) granting autonomy from Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in Turkey and the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, officially becoming independent from the Russian Orthodox Church. However, even after independence, there remained factions supporting Russia, preventing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from showing unity.

BBC reported that since 2018, many Orthodox dioceses in Ukraine have joined the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but efforts to unify the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have not yielded substantial results and the church has remained divided.

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill
Photo by TASS Yonhap News

The war in Ukraine, which broke out in February, became an opportunity to unify the previously divided Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This was because Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, repeatedly made statements supporting the war in Ukraine. Kirill is known as a fervent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has continuously stirred controversy by asserting the legitimacy of the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church disagreed with Kirill’s views and declared full independence and autonomy last May.

However, suspicions that clergy members supporting Russia still exist within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have not ceased. Recently, in Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, a bishop who was preparing leaflets advocating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was arrested.

The Ukrainian Security Service stated that although the Ukrainian Orthodox Church separated from the Russian Orthodox Church, some senior clergy secretly aid Russia by leveraging their influence over believers, and that the monastery crackdown was aimed at counterintelligence activities. The Ukrainian Security Service deployed agents to numerous Orthodox-related buildings besides Pechersk Lavra to conduct a large-scale crackdown.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, criticized Ukraine, saying it has been at war with the Orthodox Church for a long time. Archbishop Kirill also joined the criticism, calling it a measure to intimidate believers.

A Ukrainian political scientist said, "Ukrainian Orthodox clergy and believers ultimately must decide whether to serve God or to serve the Kremlin’s executioners."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.