MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Members of security services, including special police forces, arrived in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery on Friday morning, the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) reported.

The police have taken off locks and turned off alarm systems in one of the monastery buildings.

As reported earlier, the police and the staff of the Ukrainian Culture Ministry’s Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Historical and Cultural Preserve have blocked the entrance to a church on the Lavra’s premises.

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.

The situation around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery has been heating up since March 30. UOC monks refused to leave the cloister as demanded by the directorate of the Ukrainian Culture Ministry’s Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Historical and Cultural Preserve, which had unilaterally terminated the UOC’s open-ended lease to the Lavra.