Access to the buildings of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is blocked by the police. Archpriest Nikita Chekman, lawyer of the Lavra, announced this on his Telegram channel.
He also released footage showing police cordoning off the building. According to him, access is closed to believers, who two days ago did not allow the buildings to be sealed.
Chekman noted that representatives of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra reserve, accompanied by police, “infiltrated the 70th building of the monastery, having previously broken the locks.” Then the commission of the Ministry of Culture, with the assistance of the police, sealed two buildings of the Lavra. One of them was the residence of the rector of the UOC, Metropolitan Onufry. “The 71st building of the Lavra has been sealed,” the church said in a statement, RIA Novosti reports.
According to media reports, a little later, believers began to be let into the Lavra, but after the presentation of documents and the inspection of personal belongings.
At the same time and O. Director of the reserve Maxim Ostapenko said that the commission of the national reserve will seal the premises of the Lavra, except for those needed for “compact living of monks.” However, he did not specify whether the caves where the relics of the saints would be sealed would be sealed.
Recall that in March this year the reserve broke off the lease agreement for the buildings of the Lavra with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The UOC appealed to the court, the meeting was scheduled for July 19. However, already this week, attempts were made to evict the monks from the Lavra.
Source: Rosbalt
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