Ukrainian police searched the home of the head of the monastery, Pavlo, in the context of the dispute over the world-famous Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
“They told me in two words that I was suspected of working for Russia,” Pavlo said in a video released by Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti. He was also called for questioning for religious hate speech and insults against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Police suspect Church of spying for Moscow
The dispute over the use of the cave monastery has been going on for months. The Ukrainian leadership suspects the Ukrainian Orthodox Church operating there of espionage and agitation for Moscow.
Before the Russian invasion, she belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate. Although she renounced this patriarchy after the outbreak of the Russian offensive war, Kiev accused her of constant collaboration. The dispute between Ukraine and Russia had already led to the establishment of an Orthodox Church in Ukraine in 2018, independent of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Monks refuse to move
Kiev has now taken away the right to use the cave monastery from the still existing Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The monks who live there should actually leave on March 29, but they refuse. The Ukrainian leadership has therefore applied for an eviction order from the court.
Source: Krone
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