Force will not be used to evict representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said on March 29 after monks who have been ordered to leave the historic site refused to go.
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Danilov, speaking on Ukrainian television, said while there will be no evictions, the monastery must be turned over to the Ukrainian government.
“If someone thinks that he has the right not to follow the laws of our country, then he is deeply mistaken.... The laws of Ukraine must be followed by everyone,” Danilov said. He added that the monks are expected to leave quietly.
Metropolitan Pavlo, an abbot of the monastery, told worshippers on March 29 that the UOC would not leave the site pending the outcome of a lawsuit it filed last week to stop the eviction. Pavlo said the UOC had been notified that the handover of the property would begin on March 30, according to the AP.
The 11th-century monastery and UNESCO World Heritage site, which is also known as the Monastery of the Caves, is owned by the Ukrainian government, and the agency overseeing the property notified the UOC earlier this month that it was terminating the lease as of March 29.
The UOC is a branch of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church that previously was under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox patriarch in Moscow. It cut ties with Moscow in May over Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, but it has been accused of maintaining links to Russia.
In November, security agents conducted a “counterintelligence” operation at the Pechersk Lavra and other facilities of the UOC as part of a probe into suspected pro-Russia activity.
Danilov said the termination of the lease is in the interest of national security. The work of the UOC cannot be done inside Ukraine “from the point of view of our security” and must be stopped, he said.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) is the country’s main Orthodox church. A 2020 survey found that 34 percent of Ukrainians identified as members of the OCU, while 14 percent said they were members of the UOC.