Kiev, UNESCO agree on moving Christian valuables out of Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra - Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief

MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - Kiev and UNESCO have agreed on moving Christian valuables out of the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service head Sergei Naryshkin said in a statement.

"According to information available to the Foreign Intelligence Service, the authorities in Kiev and UNESCO representatives have agreed on moving Christian valuables, including holy relics, out of the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra and transferring them to museums in Italy, France, Germany and the Vatican under the pretext of 'saving from Russian missile strikes'," the service's press bureau quoted Naryshkin as saying.

"A list of Church property has been drawn up, funds have been allotted for moving the cargo to Europe, and vehicles have been prepared, including some with refrigeration units," Naryshkin said.

"Metropolitan Onufry, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has been informed that the icons, relics and utensils will be moved temporarily, allegedly for safekeeping, 'until after the situation in Ukraine is back to normal'," he said. "There is no doubt that the valuables' return is not planned by the West," he added.

"The protection of the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra has a profound, spiritual meaning for our country, which means our determination to bring the special military operation to the end grows firmer," Naryshkin said.

The Russian Orthodox Church has called for preventing the relocation of valuables from the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra outside of Ukraine.

"Reports of the planned relocation of cultural valuables from the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra are of a scandalous nature and require immediate verification. One cannot but remember the actual looting of valuables from Baghdad museums in 2003, after the Western coalition invaded that country," Russian Orthodox Church representative Vladimir Legoyda said on Telegram on Monday.

According to him, Lavra valuables are a legacy of the Ukrainian people and the entire global Orthodoxy and the attempt at their relocation is "a disastrous act."

Legoyda called for giving the flock of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church a chance to make sure that the valuables are safe.