In the Svyatogorsk Lavra, which is under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 400 lay people are hiding, 56 of them are children. The monastery is under constant shelling, there is a lot of destruction, people are hiding there in the cellars. This is stated in a letter from the abbot of the Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy (Yakovenko), which Bishop Viktor (Kotsaba) published on his Telegram channel.

“We try to support each other, but many are in a stressful situation due to the uncertainty of the end of this madness,” writes Metropolitan Arseniy.

According to him, people eat bread baked in the Lavra, but there are shortages of flour, as well as fuel.

Why the laity cannot be evacuated from the monastery and whether there are Ukrainian soldiers on the territory of the Lavra, the letter does not specify.

Also, apparently, in the Lavra, the nuns of the women’s skete in Bogorodichny, where the fighting is taking place, are hiding.