Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Director proposes exchanging Stolypin's remains for Ukrainian soldiers held captive by Russian forces

He stated this in an interview with TSN, as reported by Espreso.

Ostapenko noted that the first object to be restored in the Assumption Cathedral was a monument not to Ukrainian figures, but to the Russian Empire figure and Ukrainian nationalist Petr Stolypin, calling it a conscious policy of Russian markers.

He called for a public dialogue on what to do with the remains of the Russian figure, emphasizing that there are several options.

"One of the ideas is to include him in the exchange fund," he said. "We have fallen heroes, we have living heroes who are in captivity, we have our Ukrainian prominent figures who are within the borders of the Russian Federation and who are abandoned, and no one knows where they are."

The director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra explained that the beginning of the process of including Stolypin's remains in the exchange fund is extremely important for Ukrainian independence.

"If we say that the process of true independence of Ukraine has begun, then it must start with the return of our symbols, our figures," Ostapenko concluded.