The Сommission of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy on the acceptance and transfer of the state property of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra was again not allowed to enter the monastery to conduct an inspection, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
As of 9:40 a.m., representatives of the Сommission came to the 111th building of the monastery, as they did on 30 March, but the clergy and parishioners prevented them from entering the building.
After that, the Commission decided to complete its work on Friday.
Updated. The Commission of the Ministry of Culture intends to appeal to the police and file a lawsuit to remove the obstruction to the use of the property.
"There is yesterday's government decision. This means that there are no legal grounds for the monastery to be located on the territory of the reserve. First, we will appeal to the police under Article 179 of the Criminal Code, which is "illegal detention, desecration or destruction of religious shrines." As a next step, we will immediately file a lawsuit in court to remove the obstruction to the use of the property," said Maryana Tomyn, a member of the Commission and director of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture.
According to her, starting on Monday, 3 April, the Commission will take all the necessary legal steps and wait for the court's decision to further develop the situation.
"This is our plan, once again, having recorded the obstacles," Tomyn said.
At the same time, she emphasized that the authorities do not intend to use force.
The UOC-MP was supposed to vacate the territory of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra on 29 March. However, instead, the abbot of the Lavra announced a lawsuit and that they were not going to leave at least until a court decision was made.
On the day of the inventory of the property of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, supporters of the UOC-MP began to obstruct the work of the Ministry of Culture's Commission. Because of this, the police had to be contacted.