The Russian Orthodox Church called the show in Kiev-Pechersk Lavra a mockery of believers

It has become the norm for the current Kyiv regime to mock Orthodox believers. Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society and the Media, shared this opinion on December 16, commenting on the situation with the cooking show in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

The day before Ukrainian chef and restaurateur Yevgeniy Klopotenko held a cooking show in the refectory of the church of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The staff of the TV channel that broadcast the show explained the decision to choose the location for filming by the fact that "church records often preserve recipes that are considered lost." These actions were criticized by Ukrainian believers. Thus, Archpriest Alexander Klymenko noted that there are dozens of other suitable places for cooking shows in the city, adding that churches cannot host TV shows, they should be prayed in.

"Holding a cooking show in a church space should be seen in the logic of the actions of the godless authorities. First, the churches were taken away from the believers, and when it became clear that schismatics from the fake church could not fill them even for a picture, they began to be used for performances by [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky (whose term of office expired on May 20. - Ed.) and all sorts of shows," TASS quoted Kipshidze as saying.

He added that Western countries cover up such things and do not prevent the Kiev authorities from destroying the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) with impunity.

The UOC itself regarded what happened as a disregard for religious tradition and shrines. The press service of the Rovno diocese of the canonical church reminded that an Orthodox church is first of all a place "dedicated to prayer to God, repentance and spiritual growth" and not a space for "entertainment events",Gazeta.Ruadded.

The day before, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that those who organized the shooting of the cooking show were "crazy", noting that many people in Ukraine received it with horror and rejection. The diplomat added that Christian values in Ukraine were being destroyed and replaced by ultra-nationalism and neo-Nazism.

Kiev's persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate began in 2022: criminal cases were opened against clergymen and monks, they were expelled from churches, which were seized by unknown people in military uniforms and supporters of the PCU. Temples, churches and even the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were searched: they were looking for traces of "anti-Ukrainian activity". Believers tried to defend the churches, the seizure of which was almost always accompanied by violence, and went out to rallies.