MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Moscow strongly condemns Kiev’s actions against the Orthodox faith, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"I would like to express my deep regret that the international community has been unable to properly condemn these unlawful actions by the Kiev regime. We condemn them in the strongest possible terms," he noted.

"Undoubtedly, the Kiev regime is once again exposing its nature through its unlawful actions and infringement on the Church. It is its nature that we are fighting against, it is this very nature that we seek to abolish through the operation that is currently underway. It once again proves and makes it clear that we are doing the absolutely right thing," Peskov pointed out.

The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has recently been facing increasing pressure. On March 10, an eviction notice from the acting director general of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Historical and Cultural Reserve (subordinate to the Ukrainian Culture Ministry) was published on the monastery’s website, stating that monks affiliated with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church must leave the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra by March 29, when the current lease expires. According to the document, a working group that identified a violation of the lease terms had been created by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s decree. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia earlier urged the clergy to pray for the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church and emphasized that the Kiev regime was blatantly violating the rights and freedoms of believers.