Russian fake story alleges icons taken from Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to France

In particular, Russian propagandist Vladimir Tikhomirov published an article in the online magazine STOL, where they display images of "Saints Sergius and Bacchus," "Martyr and Martyress," "John the Baptist," and "Mother of God with Child," currently on display in the Louvre. Tikhomirov disseminates false information that the icons were taken from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. He also claims that they will be transferred elsewhere, as reported by Veliky Kyiv.

In reality, the icons were transported to France from the Khanenko Museum after a Russian missile struck the institution's walls. An exhibition titled "At the Origins of the Sacred Image: Icons from the National Museum of Bogdan and Varvara Khanenko in Kyiv" is currently ongoing. The exhibition will run until early November 2023.

The four Byzantine icons from the 6th to 7th centuries are globally renowned cultural treasures, among the oldest Christian icons to have survived to our time. They were brought to Kyiv in the second half of the 19th century by Bishop Porphyry Uspensky, who had previously visited one of the oldest Christian monasteries, Saint Catherine's in Egypt, where he received the four icons as a gift. Initially, they were handed over to the Kyiv Theological Academy, and in 1923 they became part of the Museum of Cults and Everyday Life, established on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. In 1941, the icons ended up in the Khanenko Museum.