On 27 and 28 August 2025 the municipal services of the city carried out earthworks on the grounds of the Ascension Monastery in Pereiaslav. Ancient burials of the brethren were disturbed in the course of them: human remains and funerary monuments were uncovered. Researchers of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve “Pereiaslav” recognised among them the obelisk of Archimandrite Hennadiy (1857—1905), a superior of the house, and moved it to the monastery necropolis; specialists of the reserve confirmed that the digging disturbed the cultural layer of a monument of national significance.
The Church’s information service reports that the works were carried out on the instruction of the city mayor, without a permit from the Institute of Archaeology and without the approval of the Ministry of Culture, and that after the incident clergy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine were invited to the site. This is one side’s account. The mayor gave an explanation of his own — those who criticised the digging refer to it — but we have not obtained it and do not repeat it.
According to the same service, applications have been lodged with the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Culture asking for a legal assessment. No such assessment has yet been given.
Source: Information and Education Department of the UOC, 28 August 2025.
