Slidstvo.Info reporters visited the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to determine what the clergy thinks about Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Most of the Lavra's clergy fled the question about Vladimir Putin's war and actions. Some of them refused to speak, explaining it as "fasting" (Great Lent, which precedes Easter, began for Orthodox Christians on Monday, 7 March, - Ed.).
The abbot of the Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebed), also refused to answer the questions.
"Instead, his assistant probably handed over 100 hryvnyas to another man who introduced himself as a needy person. A few minutes later, the needy man attacked the reporter Dmytro Replyanchuk and broke a wooden stick on his knee. Other men at the scene threatened to break the journalists' cameras. As a result, the reporters left the Lavra's territory and called the police, after which they wrote a statement about the crime," the Slidstvo.Info publication said.
The reporters managed to talk to a man who introduced himself as "novice Ivan".
Asked by the reporters if he considered Russia an enemy, the novice said: "Not one hundred percent. However, in this situation, I think the war has been dragging. Russia is still 60-70 percent the enemy."
As for the other 30%, the man explained that "we still have one faith, we have common roots, and I even read Putin's speech where he also brought up the topic of the common history a bit."
Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and Abbot Pavlo (Lebed) are known for their commitment to the "Russian world".
Russian Patriarch Kirill blessed the invasion of Ukraine and the de facto killing of the Ukrainian population. After that, some Ukrainian priests of the UOC-MP called on Metropolitan Onufriy to leave the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 2018, the SSU conducted searches of Metropolitan Pavlo as part of criminal proceedings for inciting interfaith hatred.