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Post: Antonov said that the US is ignoring the situation in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

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Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador to the United States. archive photo

Antonov: USA should pay attention to situation in Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

WASHINGTON, March 30 – RIA Novosti. Russia’s Ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said that the US should pay attention to the situation in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and not give moral lessons about democracy.

In a widespread comment, Antonov said, “Americans should take courage and take concrete steps to stop the blasphemy and persecution of Orthodox people from moralizing at the Democracy Summit.” said.

View of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra - RIA Novosti, 1920, 30.03.2023

UOC representatives were forced to leave the Lavra on Thursday, according to media reports

“The violation of the rights of believers, which is growing every hour against the background of the persecution of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra novices, is alarming,” he said.

“The persecution of monks comes at a time when Washington is holding the “Summit of Democracy” and slogans are heard saying that the individual’s freedom of expression, conscience and religion should be respected. The lack of reaction to the monks The actions of the Kiev authorities are inconsistent with the declared goals. Linked to discrimination against the monks of the monastery “What is the silence of those who attended the event? Is this indifference, double standard, or confirmation of blind adherence to US guidelines?” added.

He stressed that Volodymyr Zelensky was invited to the “summit of democracy” and organized “a realm of lawlessness in the name of dividing the Orthodox world”.

“Don’t they know here that in Ukraine, for a long time, clergy have been expelled, derogatory searches have been made in churches, cathedrals have been seized, believers have been harassed, threatened with physical violence and deprivation of citizenship?” aforementioned.

In early March, 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, ordering the priests of the canonical church to leave the monastery before March 29. On March 20, members of the UOC Assembly, headed by Metropolitan Onufry, came to the office of the President of Ukraine to state their positions, but he refused to receive them. On March 23, the Assembly of the UOC issued an appeal to the highest hierarchs of the church, clergy and parishioners to protect their right to be in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Vladimir Zelensky - RIA Novosti, 1920, 30.03.2023

The governor of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra turned to Zelensky with a warning

Archbishop Nikita Chekman, lawyer of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, said that he filed a lawsuit in the Kiev Economic Court on the inadmissibility of the termination of the lease. Metropolitan Pavel said that it is impossible to unilaterally break the lease, that a court decision is required and that the monks will not leave the monastery until the trial with the reserve is over.

By 2018, the persecution of the canonical UOC turned into a large-scale state campaign, the Ukrainian authorities, with the help of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, created the OCU from schismic organizations rivaling the UOC. Last year, the Ukrainian authorities staged the largest wave of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the country’s recent history. Referring to its connection with Russia, local authorities in different regions of Ukraine decided to ban the activities of the UOC, and a bill on its de facto ban in Ukraine was submitted to the parliament of the country. State sanctions were imposed on some representatives of the UOC clergy, the SBU began filing criminal cases against UOC clergy, searching bishops and priests, churches and monasteries in search of evidence of “anti-Ukrainian activities”.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a report on religious freedom in Ukraine highlighting discrimination against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Believing in the corridors of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra - RIA Novosti, 1920, 30.03.2023

Believers, fearing the capture of the monastery, spend the night in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Source: Ria

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