The Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation has handed over several early 18th-century icons to Metropolitan Tikhon of Pskov, the abbot of the Pskov Caves Monastery.
At the request of His Eminence, a search was undertaken for a number of unique icons that were taken to Germany from the Pskov Diocese during the Nazi occupation in WWII.
After an extensive search by the Russian Special Services together with their German counterparts, 12 icons were found in a private collection abroad.
According to Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, an examination showed that the icons were painted at the Pskov Caves Monastery workshop in the first third of the 18th century.
