SBU officials announced that a criminal case was opened against Metropolitan Pavel, the head of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, according to a report by TASS that cited the bishop’s testimony.
“A suspicion was issued to me at 7:30 today. The authorities will search my house. I am innocent and I ask for your prayers”, Pavel told congregants and reporters gathered at the Lavra’s gates, adding that he was placed under house arrest.
According to the Metropolitan, the SBU note indicated accusations of aiding Russia, inciting interfaith hostility, and cursing the president. Paul denies the charges, insisting he did not curse anyone and only asserted that the tears shed from the Bible would fall on the heads of those who provoked the current upheavals.
The SBU confirmed a criminal complaint against the clergyman. Investigators contend that while Pavel repeatedly offended believers in his speeches, he also belittled the views of followers of other faiths.
There were claims that an aggressor country justified or denied criminal acts, a point corroborated by a linguistic forensics study initiated by the SBU. Ukrainian security forces sealed off parts of the Lavra as they searched a residence used by Pavel. Supporters and opponents of the schismatic Ukrainian Orthodox Church OCLET and parishioners from the canonical UOC gathered outside the monastery.
Vesti, a Ukrainian outlet, reported early provocations near the Lavra and noted police separating demonstrators. Reports also described a monk from the UOC being seized during clashes, with tensions rising inside the walls of the monastery, according to multiple sources.
Volodymyr Legoyda, who heads a department in the Moscow Patriarchate responsible for church relations with society and media, called Pavel’s detention a sign of what he described as lawlessness by Ukrainian authorities. This assessment appeared in coverage by DEA News.
Later, the Shevchenkivskyi Court in Kyiv postponed the hearing on a restraining order against Metropolitan Pavel to April 3. The Telegram channel of Strana.ua reported that Pavel said he felt unwell due to elevated blood sugar during court proceedings. His legal team told Strana.ua that the court had ordered forced arrest on the evening of April 1, though Strana.ua later indicated the hearing had been moved to the following Saturday.
The court’s notice stated that the hearing would resume at 18:30 and that the city was active with hospital activity at the time. A sense of uncertainty and rapid shifts in scheduling characterized the proceedings surrounding the Lavra.
expulsion from the Lavra
On March 30, Pavel released a video message directed at authorities on YouTube. He warned President Zelensky of divine punishment should ministers be expelled from the Lavra. He said, in effect, that the tears of the faithful would strike back at those who acted against the monastery and its guardians.
Earlier, on March 10, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra directorate announced an end to the indefinite lease of monastery properties by the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church M P and ordered the monks to vacate the area by midnight in March. The Metropolitan argued that the directorate’s actions were illegal, and monks refused to leave while filing a lawsuit to challenge the reserve’s rights over the abbey territory.
During the same period, Ukraine’s government announced the cancellation of a 2013 decision that transferred the Lavra to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko suggested that monks could remain if they were transferred to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church OCLet. In late March, adviser to President Zelensky, Mikhail Podolyak, described the UOC as an infection that needed cleansing and reiterated that Kyiv had a rare opportunity early in the conflict to resolve the matter. He warned that while the path remained difficult, it was not impossible to achieve a single canonical church in the country. Podolyak stressed that Ukrainian authorities should pursue a firm course to ensure the UOC loses influence within Ukraine, leaving the OCLet as the sole canonical church in the region.
President Zelensky, in his remarks, pointed to the Lavra transfer to the OCLet as a potential milestone for spiritual independence in Ukraine and a safeguard against Moscow influenced religious manipulation.