Abbot of Kyiv's Caves Monastery threatens journalists with violence, damages reporter's camera
Surrounded by supporters, Pavlo, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), has threatened journalists with violence and prevented them from doing their work. The clergyman also violently pushed away one of the journalists, as well as damaged a reporter's camera.
Source: Ukrinform news agency
Quote from Pavlo: "I’m going to take this stick and crush all your cameras."
Details: A journalist asked why Pavlo was threatening the reporters. Instead, he began to lie that, on the contrary, he was being threatened. "I'm not threatening anyone, you're doing the threatening," Pavlo said.
The journalist also asked Pavlo to say that Russia attacked Ukraine, but he remained silent.
Supporters of the churchman began telling the journalist not to provoke them. One of the clergy pounced on the journalist and tore his charging wire.
The video also shows the clergyman pushing the journalist away.
Background:
- In March 2023, the National Reserve Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra terminated the agreement with the UOC-MP on the free use of the monastery in Kyiv. The monks were supposed to leave the monastery and all its buildings on 29 March.
- The priests of the UOC-MP should have left the monastery on 29 March after holding their last service there.
- But the Lavra’s abbot, Metropolitan Pavlo, said he did not intend to do that and filed a lawsuit against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve.
- He also openly threatened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko was "possessed by an unclean spirit".
- On the evening of 29 March, the UOC-MP website reported that the Kyiv Commercial Court had opened proceedings in a case brought by the Holy Dormition Monastery against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve over the termination of the lease agreement by the National Reserve.
- Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, gave assurances that UOC-MP clergy would not be evicted from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra by force.
- On 30 March, the Ministry of Culture commission which was to have carried out an inventory of the property of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve was refused entry to the Lavra by UOC-MP parishioners.
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