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Police detain woman advocating for Ukrainian Orthodox church near Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

According to the church, human rights activist Victoria Kokhanovska was "kidnapped during a live broadcast"

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Police have detained Viktoria Kokhanovskaya, a parishioner of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), who was actively advocating for the rights of the church during provocations near the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church wrote on its Telegram channel on Wednesday.

"Human rights activist Viktoria Kokhanovskaya was abducted during a live broadcast. Eyewitnesses said that police had grabbed her in such a barbaric way," the UOC reported attaching the video presumably showing the woman’s detention.

Last week, the Strana online media resource said that the Ukrainian Security Service had summoned Kokhanovskaya for questioning.

Kokhanovskaya was repeatedly seen in news videos near the walls of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra surrounded by other supporters and opponents of the UOC. The woman tried to talk to the provocateurs, answered their questions and explained the position of the church and its parishioners. When contacting the provocateurs, she always recorded videos on her phone, precisely as the UOC recommends.

Tensions over the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, one of the first monasteries in Russia and the oldest monastery on the territory of modern Ukraine, escalated in late March. The authorities severed the lease with the canonical Church and demanded that the monks leave the monastery. The UOC monks refused to follow the demands, dubbing them as illegal. Both sides took the case to court. Over the past two weeks, supporters of the UOC have gathered on the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra every day to express their support for the monks.

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