Lawyer: Aggressive group holds illegal rally at Lavra for a fortnight

Contrary to the law "On the legal regime of martial law", which prohibits mass gatherings and actions during wartime, a group of aggressive people has been holding a rally on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra for a fortnight, said Lavra's lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman.

"A group of aggressively-minded persons has been trying to interfere in the last two weeks to hold services, accompanying their actions with loud slogans, songs and dances on the territory of the shrine," the lawyer said. “We believe that there is a rally, the purpose of which is blatant aggression towards the clergy and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We note that in connection with the introduction of martial law in Ukraine, peaceful assemblies, rallies, marches, demonstrations and other public events are prohibited.”

The archpriest has published the response of the Kyiv City Military Administration to his lawyer's enquiries regarding the established restrictions on holding mass rallies and whether the city authorities were warned about the rally at the Lavra by its organizers. The response said that neither the KCMA nor the Kyiv City Council "received any appeals or reports about holding rallies or any other events on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Holy Dormition Lavra. Accordingly, the lawyer stressed, the authorities did not give any permission for mass actions at the monastery.

As reported, radicals are calling on their supporters to "cleanse the Lavra of the Russian world" on Good Thursday.