An underground school operates at the UOC MP monastery "Holosiivska Pustyn" in Kyiv. There, children are taught according to Soviet textbooks, shown Russian films, and taught Russian songs.
This is stated in the investigation by Slidstvo.Info.
Journalist Yana Korniychuk of Slidstvo.Info posed as a woman who wanted to place her relativeʼs child in an educational institution that had the characteristics of an underground school. To find out the details of how this institution functioned, she spoke with the principal, teachers, and parents of the students.
The school currently has over 60 children, from first to ninth grade. According to the schoolʼs director Anna Bolhova, the school has 16 teachers. She founded the so-called "Perspektyva" Orthodox school for Christian children in February 2025.
In the first grade class schedule, journalists saw the subject “Slavic language”. Primary school teacher Larisa Abrosimova explained that it was actually Russian. Although the teacher claims that the lessons are in Ukrainian, the students’ parents say that it’s “50/50”.
During the tour of the school, we were able to get acquainted with the textbooks that first-graders use. Among them, for example, is a Soviet arithmetic textbook published in 1966. The primary school teacher claims that they took it because it is designed for three years.
The school also has such subjects as “Film” and “Music”. The last time they showed the film “5 Secrets of a Real Man” from the Russian public organization “Common Cause”. In music class, children sing Soviet Russian songs.
Local workers call their school a “family club”. Judging by the words of the director, this educational institution attached to the monastery, despite having all the features of a regular school (full-day school from 9:00 to 14:00, extended-day group, tests, assessments), operates without an official license.
The mother of one of the schoolgirls said that her daughterʼs documents are at another school, which is legal, and the education takes place at the monastery.
In the conversation, the director of the institution shared that the abbot of the Holy Intercession Holosiivska Hermitage monastery, Archbishop Isaac Vorzelsky, also known as Fedir Filippovich Andronyk, helped with the school premises.
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