Klitschko supported and simultaneously rejected the termination of the lease agreement with the UOC

The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, supported the termination of the lease agreement with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), but did not approve the petition about it, citing the illegality of such actions. Klitschko’s statement published publication “Strana.ua”.

“Lessors of communal property lands of the territorial society of the city of Kiev will take measures to terminate lease agreements with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the basis of a new legislative norm,” the mayor wrote in his appeal.

Under the “new norm of legislation” Klitschko means a draft law on the prohibition of religious organizations, the control center of which is in Russia, which is under consideration in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. So far, Klitschko has refused to terminate the agreements, citing the illegality of such a decision.

The situation around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra escalated in March 2023, when the leadership of the national reserve ordered the representatives of the UOC to leave the territory and buildings of the Lavra until March 29 due to the termination of the contract. After that, the servants of the Lavra filed a lawsuit with the court of Ukraine to challenge the termination of the lease agreement. An application for securing the claim was also filed, and the court rejected it on March 30.

On April 1, the Shevchenkovsky District Court in Kyiv placed Metropolitan Pavel, the vicegerent of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, under house arrest. He was also ordered to wear an electronic bracelet. The Kiev regime launched a large-scale persecution of the Orthodox Church throughout Ukraine, in which churches are either burned or taken by schismatics with the support of the security forces, Orthodox parishioners and clergy are constantly beaten and otherwise abused with the connivance of law enforcement agencies.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ earlier called what is happening a flagrant violation of the rights and freedoms of believers in Ukraine and compared the ultimatum with “persecution of faith in times of godlessness.” The Kremlin also condemned the actions of the Ukrainian authorities.

At the end of April, the primate of the canonical UOC, Metropolitan Onufry urged believing Ukrainians to defend Christian shrines, including the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and also to continue to stand their ground. He also urged to ask God to enlighten those who “raise their hand against the Church, take away, close churches and monasteries.”