The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded the release of Ukrainian Metropolitan Pavel

The Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Minister for cooperation in the field of ensuring the right to freedom of religion, Ambassador-at-Large Gennady Askaldovich said that the Russian side demands the release of the vicar of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Metropolitan Pavel and provide him with medical care.

He called the action of the Kiev regime a "gross act of arbitrariness" against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"We are deeply worried about the fate of Vladyka Pavel, who, as you know, is under house arrest and in electronic shackles. His figure acquires for people of good will the image of a martyr for the Orthodox faith... We demand the immediate release of Metropolitan Pavel and the provision of appropriate medical care to him", - the ministry's portal reports.

In early March, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine notified the UOC of the need to leave the Kiev Pechersk Lavra due to the termination of the lease agreement of the monastery unilaterally. The monks refused to be evicted, and the vicar of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed), appealed the decision through the court. On April 1, a search began in the house of the governor of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. The metropolitan was charged with cooperation with Russia.

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev commented on the situation around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, calling Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and his team "rabid bastards and vile scum".