Pochaev, Ukraine, May 4, 2020
Photo: news.church.ua
While various Ukrainian and international media outlets have attempted to blame the Holy Dormition-Pochaev Lavra for the outbreak of the coronavirus in the city, one Pochaev nurse has testified that, in fact, the brethren of the monastery have been busy ministering to those in need.
From the beginning of the epidemic, the monks of the Lavra have been “running around like ants, working,” feeding local medical staff and infected patients, and even completing the Infections Department of the local hospital, nurse Galina Melnichuk commented to the Beautiful City media platform on May 1.
“When our medical workers were sitting in observation because they had the coronavirus, the Lavra was bringing food, passing it to the employees, and feeding people,” the nurse said on live tv.
Moreover, it was thanks to the monastery that the Infections Department at the local hospital was completed.
“The state didn’t allocate any money—it was the Lavra building it,” Melnichuk emphasized.
“They finished the Infections Department in 2.5 months—they laid the tiles there, they plastered and puttied, they did repairs for us; they did it for the people! And people say they’re this-and-that…,” she said, commenting on the unjustified media frenzy surrounding the Lavra.
The mayor of Pochaev has also refuted the media attacks painting the monastery as extremists who have spread the coronavirus like wildfire.
When the coronavirus began to spread in the city, the monks started bringing food to the hospital, she added. “So can you say that they don’t do anything, that someone got sick there because of them?” the nurse asked.
