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‘Military act against Russian Orthodox Church’: Kremlin on raids at Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

On November 13, the SBU opened a criminal case over chants about Russia being performed at one of the churches of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Raids on the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery can be viewed as yet another Ukrainian military action against the Russian Orthodox Church, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

"The Ukrainian side has been waging war on <…> the Russian Orthodox Church for a while and I would say that this can be viewed as yet another link in the chain of these military acts against Russian Orthodoxy," the Kremlin official said replying to a request to comment on information about the searches at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Earlier, Ukraine’s Strana media outlet reported that the SBU was searching the premises of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra on Tuesday morning. It also published a photo depicting a large number of uniformed people near the monastery. Later, the Ukrainian agency confirmed it was taking "counterintelligence measures."

On November 13, the SBU opened a criminal case over chants about Russia being performed at one of the churches of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is one of Russia's first monasteries and is the oldest monastery in modern-day Ukraine. It was founded in the 11th century. Currently, the monastery's territory covers over 20 hectares.

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