The Kyiv police opened criminal proceedings under the article on the illegal possession of religious shrines in connection with the denial of the commission of the Ministry of Culture to the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

 This is reported by Interfax-Ukraine with reference to the capital police.

 The law enforcement officers said that according to the statement of the commission of the Ministry of Culture, criminal proceedings were opened under Art. 179 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal possession, desecration or destruction of religious shrines).

 Earlier, the commission of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine for the acceptance and transfer of state property of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, after being denied access to conduct an inspection, announced its intention to contact the police, as well as file a lawsuit in court to remove obstacles to the use of the property.

 On March 29, the UOC MP had to vacate all the premises it leases from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, as the state reserve terminated the lease agreements concluded in 2013, and later the Cabinet of Ministers also canceled the decision of the Yanukovych-era government to transfer the Lavra to the UOC MP.

 However, on March 30, the priests of the UOC MP did not leave the Lavra and continued to hold services there.

 Also, they twice failed the commission of the Ministry of Culture on the reception and transfer of state property of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. In this regard, the reserve filed a report with the police.

 The leadership of the UOC MP, led by the vicar of the Lavra Peter Lebed (Metropolitan Pavel), accused the authorities of Ukraine and officials of the Ministry of Culture of an "ultimatum" and stated that the demands for eviction have no legal basis.

 The UOC MP also filed a lawsuit over the eviction from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. But the court did not allow them to stay in the Lavra during the hearing of the lawsuit.

 Despite the categorical refusal to leave the Lavra, the UOC MP is actively removing property from the shrine. In a comment to the mass media, the priests said that they planned to remove "everything except the relics" from the Lower Lavra.