The Kremlin spokesman called Kiev’s actions illegal. According to him, the Ukrainian government is “once again demonstrating its character” – the same character “with which we are fighting”. This is exactly what needs to be stopped as a result of the SVO, drew the attention of Peskov.
What is happening, he said, “proves and shows once again that everything we are all doing is absolutely correct.”
The Kremlin, he noted, regrets that these illegal actions of the Kiev regime are not duly condemned by the international community.
Earlier in Ukraine, leaders and monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate were officially forced to leave the Lavra by March 29. At the same time, the agreement with the Church on the lease of state property in the territory of the monastery will be terminated. When using this property, violations were reportedly found, which Kiev did not bother to clarify.
Residents of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra do not intend to comply with the demand for expulsion from the monastery, said the monastery’s abbot, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko has suggested monks from the canonical UOC could stay in the Lavra if they are transferred to the Ukrainian Orthodox Schismatic Church.
