Ukraine Raids 1,000 Year Old Kyiv Monastery over Ties to Russian Intel

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) carried out a raid on a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv on Tuesday over the suspected “subversive activities” of Russian agents who may be present on its grounds.

Built in a cave that overlooked the Dnieper River in 1051, the sprawling Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, is a Ukrainian cultural treasure. Its cathedral, churches and other buildings are a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site. The church is also the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and falls under the Moscow Patriarchate.

The SBU said in a statement that the operation was aimed at preventing the use of the monastery as “the center of the Russian world” and carried out to look into suspicions “about the use of the premises … for sheltering sabotage and reconnaissance groups, foreign citizens, [and] weapons storage.” It said another site was also being searched in the Rivne region, 240km west of the capital.

The “Russian world” concept is at the center of President Vladimir Putin’s new foreign policy doctrine, which aims to protect Russia’s language, culture and religion. It has been used by conservative ideologues to justify intervention abroad.