"Taking the relics out would mean that neither the faith of the people nor the values of the Orthodox church are respected by those who make such decisions," Gan said.
Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said earlier this week that the Ukrainian authorities and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had reached a deal on removing the relics from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and sending them to Western European countries.
The SVR said the agreement stipulates the historic monastery's artifacts would be moved to museums in Italy, France, Germany and the Vatican under the pretext of allegedly rescuing them from Russian missile strikes.
However, UNESCO did not confirm the alleged deal to the Russian media and directed any inquiries to the Ukrainian authorities.
Gan was bewildered as to why it is necessary to deprive Christian Orthodox believers of the right to venerate the relics.
"The relics of the Lavra belong to the people and to the church. They should stay with the believers," Gan added.
Tensions between the Kiev regime and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) escalated after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
The Zelensky regime ordered the UOC monks to leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, claiming they had allegedly violated the terms of the lease. The Lavra’s jurisdiction was divided between the National Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve - a Ukrainian cultural organization - and the UOC itself.
Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said then the monks could stay in the Lavra if they join the non-canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), but the monks slammed the eviction order as illegal because it was not backed by a court decision.
In April, Tkachenko said that the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture had formed a commission to look into the use of state property pertaining to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.