Russian Politician Says Ukrainians Might Storm Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

Ukrainian troops might attempt to storm the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra at the weekend, said Vladimir Rogov, Reported TASS. Vladimir Rogov is the chairman of the ‘We are Together With Russia’ movement. The hint by Rogov comes as Ukrainian law enforcement units declared that they would come to evict the monks on Monday. However, it is "likely that at the weekend people’s attention would wane and the Ukrainian army would storm into it. "So no one should lower their guard," said Rogov. Rogov has highlighted the remarks of Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, who has shared that "physical purges" of the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) fall even under the articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.

A week ago, the courtyards of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra have been busy with more than just the usual worshippers, as per AP reports. The worshippers were going to and from its churches in the sprawling monastic complex. The people in civilian clothes have loaded cars with plasma televisions, furniture and other items from the buildings and helped the resident monks remove belongings of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This hustle and bustle at the church were happening due to the threat of eviction by the Ukrainian government which was issued on March 29. Ukraine's law enforcement units have been present at the site and have been keeping a check on the cars to make sure no one was removing items that belong to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra preserve. 

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra church 

Preparations for an attack on the monastery have been underway, said the Metropolitan Pavel, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra rector on Friday. Further, he added that the attack would take place after 05:00 p.m. The believers have been asked to pray and law enforcement officers have been deployed for their protection from the attack, reported TASS. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Eastern Orthodox Christian monastery. It has been one of the first monasteries in Russia and the oldest monastery on the territory of modern Ukraine. The termination of the open-ended lease agreement with the UOC’s Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra has been announced on March 10 by the directorate of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Historical and Cultural Reserve. Apart from that, the monks were ordered to vacate the premises by March 29. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Pavel, the rector of the monastery, has called these actions as illegal and said that the monks had refused to leave the monastery, as per the TASS report.