MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. The head of Russia’s Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), Valery Fadeyev, has urged the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the Pope and the World Council of Churches to take action to protect the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), and to forestall the usurpation of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery. In a message posted to the HRC’s Telegram channel, the Council said the appeal was issued by its commission on international cooperation in the field of human rights.
"The head of the Human Rights Council, Valery Fadeyev, sent this appeal to international organizations and religious figures: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Maria Pejcinovic-Buric, OSCE Secretary-General Helga Maria Schmid, Pope Francis and Secretary General of the World Council of Churches Dr. Jerry Pillay.
The appeal says that the Ukrainian authorities "have long been watching with shameless indifference as local officials in various regions of the country condone the seizure of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by extremist and radical nationalist activists and, as well, impose bans on UOC parishes at the local level."
"We call on all international human rights organizations to speak out in defense of the rights of UOC believers and prevent the expulsion of UOC priests from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. We hope that the spiritual leaders of various religious denominations will not turn a blind eye to such a risk in Ukraine and will do their utmost to ensure that the rights of UOC parishioners to the freedom of worship within their own monastery remain inviolable," the appeal says.
On Friday, an eviction notice was uploaded to the monastery’s website from the CEO of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Historical and Cultural Reserve, stating that the UOC-affiliated monks of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra must vacate the monastery by March 29, when the current lease expires. The notice clarifies that the working group that had identified a violation of the terms of the lease was established by a decree that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had issued to enforce a decision of the National Security and Defense Council titled "On Certain Aspects of the Activities of Religious Organizations in Ukraine and the Application of Personal Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions).".