Russian attack against Kyiv’s holiest monastery shows Kremlin’s desire to wipe out Ukraine heritage, says theologian

First published in Deník N.

“After the start of the full-scale invasion, the question of who would control the Lavra arose immediately,” 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’s Russian attack on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra had a symbolic dimension.

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.

Others include the Great Lavra on Mount Athos in Greece or the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Russia.

Ukraine is exceptional in this respect, because there are as many as four lavras on its territory – 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.