Prince Ostrozkyi, Mazepa and Shevchenko have returned to the Lavra: Mykola Tomenko explains how the true Ukrainian history of the shrine was restored over the years
For many years the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra remained a place where Ukrainian history and the figures of outstanding statesmen and patrons were almost invisible.
Public figure and politician Mykola Tomenko told cadets of the SBU National Academy how his team spent many years restoring, step by step, the memory of the Great Ukrainians within the walls of the sacred site. From the first film about the Lavra to the appearance of monuments to Shevchenko and Mazepa and the revival of Prince Ostrozkyi's tomb — how the space of the country's chief shrine has changed.
How the return of Ukrainian history to the Lavra began
When the Ridna Krajina foundation ran the “7 Wonders of Ukraine” campaign many years ago and made a film about the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the public came face to face with a sad reality: the public space of the shrine said almost nothing about the true Ukrainian history of the place. Tomenko's team then decided to take up the cause of restoring justice and honouring the Ukrainians who built, financed and glorified the Lavra.
“When our team at the Ridna Krajina Foundation completed the first stage of the nationwide ‘7 Wonders of Ukraine’ campaign and filmed a documentary about one of the winners, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the public space of the Lavra hardly reminded visitors of the glorious Ukrainian history of this sacred place. So we set about bringing back the memory of the Great Ukrainians who built, financed and glorified our Lavra,” Mykola Tomenko shared during a lecture and tour for cadets of the SBU National Academy.
From Taras Shevchenko to Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi
The first notable step, in 2014, was the installation of a memorial sign to Taras Shevchenko. The sculptors Oles Sydruk and Borys Krylov worked on the project, and the idea was realised thanks to the efforts and funds of the foundation with the support of caring people.
That same year another large-scale international project began — the restoration of the tombstone monument to Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi. A Ukrainian-Lithuanian organising committee was created, headed by Mykola Tomenko together with the then Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Ukraine, Marius Janukonis, and the head of the reserve, Liubomyr Mykhailyna. The Ridna Krajina Foundation financed the first model, and further work was supported by Lithuanian partners and the Ostrozkyi Princes' Crown Foundation led by Robertas Gabulas. The first stage of the monument was unveiled in the Dormition Cathedral back in 2021, and work on completing the project is continuing.
Almost 10 years of fighting for a monument to Hetman Ivan Mazepa
A separate chapter was the commemoration of Hetman Ivan Mazepa, an initiative Tomenko's team launched back in 2013. The implementation of this important project stretched over almost a decade.
The decisive contribution to completing the work was made by the current head of the Reserve, Maksym Ostapenko, under whose leadership, and with the active help of the KNUCA team led by rector Oleksii Dniprov, the monument was at last solemnly unveiled on 15 July 2026.
As the public figure stressed, the work does not stop here. Ahead lies the commemoration of many other Ukrainian statesmen, patrons and religious figures, thanks to whom the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra has been preserved not only for Ukraine but for the whole world.
Source: Politeka