The Foreign Ministry called the eviction of monks from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra illegal
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The decision to evict the monks from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is lawlessness and arbitrariness. Such a statement did Gennady Askaldovich, Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Minister for Cooperation in Ensuring the Right to Freedom of Religion, Ambassador-at-Large.
“If this decision is implemented, the schismatics will open a direct path to seize and close the great Orthodox shrine. Another act of lawlessness and arbitrariness has taken place on the part of the Kyiv regime, which fabricated a lawsuit and received the decision that was necessary for itself,” said Askaldovich.
The ambassador added that in the conditions of “political engagement, lawlessness and moral terror”, the question arises not only of the independence of the court, but also of the legality of the proceedings against Metropolitan Pavel.
Askaldovich considered that one should not rely on the Court of Appeal, but did not rule out that the international court could make a “due judicial decision.” In conclusion, the diplomat called to prevent the looting of the shrine.
August 9 court in Kyiv acknowledged legal termination of the agreement between the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Reserve and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine explained that the grounds for termination were a number of identified violations of the contract. On August 10, UOC lawyer Nikita Chekman said that the court allowed the pilgrims to be evicted from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
The conflict between the Ukrainian authorities and the UOC escalated in March 2023. The leadership of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve terminated the agreement with the UOC and ordered its representatives to leave the territory. In response, the clergy filed a lawsuit in court to challenge the termination of the lease.
In April, the Shevchenkovsky District Court in Kyiv placed Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed), the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, under house arrest, refusing to allow him to attend services at the Lavra. Russia demanded the release of the clergyman. August 7 Metropolitan released bail 33.3 million hryvnia ($902,000).
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