Kiev-Pechersk Lavra entrance now includes passport control measures

Moscow, May 2 – Kiev police check the passports of people crossing into the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, following a video broadcast by the News Agency reported by eyewitnesses.

The footage shows how a policeman checks the passports of people passing through the monastery grounds. Children and teens are not required to have documents, but they are allowed to enter with adults.

A new round of conflict over the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra began with the notification of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine about the unilateral termination of the lease agreement for the monastery. The vicar of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed), said that there can be no concessions in the Lavra, the brethren will stand to the end. After that, he was placed under house arrest.

In the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, a confrontation continues between UBC parishioners and supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU), as well as representatives of the Protectorate and the Committee of the Ministry of Culture, which is trying to seal the monastery buildings, often locking monks and believers inside. During the confrontation, four parishioners were arrested, as well as the human rights activist Victoria Kokhanovskaya, who defended the monastery, and they were all placed under house arrest.