Ukrainian authorities again demanded that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra brothers leave building number 34. This was stated by the abbot of the monastery, Metropolitan Pavel, in a video message posted on the Lavra’s YouTube channel.
He pointed out that the monks had rebuilt this building from the ruins and that they would not be removed either from here or from any other structure of the monastery.
“Who is the director of the museum and the minister of culture? asked the bishop.
He noted that they were “people as simple as us”.
“They must obey the laws of the state and have a little fear of God. There is no court order,” he said.
He also reacted to rumors on social media that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had ordered to leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and its monks alone.
“Don’t brag that someone left us alone. If I had one more letter to move in today! What are we talking about? They want to “put us to sleep” so that we don’t say anything, do nothing, just listen to new unfulfilled promises,” said the metropolitan.
Previous RIA Novosti source declarationHe said that some of the residents of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra will leave the monastery, but some monks will remain in the Lavra and “hold to the end.”
On March 10, the directorate of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra reserve announced the termination of the indefinite lease of the UOC from the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and decided that the monks should leave the monastery before March 29. Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of one of the first monasteries in Russia and the oldest on the territory of modern Ukraine, called these actions illegal and announced that the brothers refused to leave the monastery.