Parishioners of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) managed to break open the door and get inside the premises of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra sealed by the police. There they found monks locked up and taken hostage. This was reported on April 19 by the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) in the Telegram channel.

The lawyer of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Nikita Chekman, said that the actions of the policemen who locked people in the task were illegal. According to him, an application has already been submitted against them, which will be considered by the State Bureau of Investigation.

Earlier that day, police officers arrived at the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and blocked the entrances to the premises. Later, the union published footage showing that about 10 police officers in red berets and with machine guns arrived at the monastery. They do not allow believers to break into the sealed 39th building. It was also reported that the police locked people inside the 39th building and were not going to release them.

On the same day, the commission of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine for the transfer and acceptance of the property of the national reserve «Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra» sealed one of the buildings of the monastery. The police stopped letting believers of the UOC into the territory.

The pressure of supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) on the UOC intensified after the publication of a warning on March 10 on the website of the Lavra signed by the former acting. General Director of the National Reserve «Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra» Alexander Rudnik that the monks must leave the monastery before March 29. They were offered to stay in the Lavra on the condition of transferring to the schismatic OCU.

As the reason for the closure of part of the monastery, allegedly revealed violations were named. Last November, during searches on the territory of the Lavra, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) found pro-Russian literature.