Viceroy of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Ukrainian Orthodox Church Pavel (Lebed) threatened that God would not forgive President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky the eviction of the monks of the UOC from the Lavra.
“Mr. President. I tell you and your pack that our tears will not fall to the ground, they will fall on your head. Do you think that, having come into power on our backs, you can do this? The Lord will not forgive you or your family!” Pavel stated in video messagepublished on the YouTube channel of his press service.
The metropolitan accused Zelensky that 220 brothers were “thrown out into the street.” According to him, the President refused to accept the delegation of the UOC and did not stop the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko. His Swan called “obsessed with rage, anger, hatred and devilish madness.” “Woe to you. Be afraid! Metropolitan added.
Zelensky, commenting on the situation in the Lavra in circulation following the results of the 399th day of the war, noted that Ukraine had taken another step towards “strengthening spiritual independence” and “protecting our society from the old and cynical Moscow manipulations of religion.” He declared Ukraine to be the territory of “the greatest religious freedom” in this part of Europe.
In early March, the leadership of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Reserve ordered representatives of the UOC to leave the territory and buildings of the Lavra by March 30. The reserve terminated the agreement with the UOC on the gratuitous use of the Lavra, stating that the UOC male monastery located in the Lavra violated the conditions for the use of state property.
The UOC refused to leave the Lavra and submitted a lawsuit challenging the eviction decision. According to Metropolitan Pavel, representatives of the church have the right to remain in the Lavra until the end of the proceedings. In the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine considerthat representatives of the UOC should still leave the Lavra, despite the lawsuit. On March 29, many believers came to the territory of the Lavra – according to various estimates, “hundreds” or “thousands” Human.
In November 2022, against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the SBU carried out “counterintelligence activities” in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and other dioceses of the UOC. In department declaredthat among the representatives of the UOC there are “enemy moles in cassocks.”
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in its report notedthat the actions of the Ukrainian authorities against the UOC may be “discriminatory”. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine urged UN representatives to refrain from “unbalanced political assessments”, noting that freedom of religion is not equal to the right to engage in activities that undermine national security.
