The Verkhovna Rada pointed to Zelensky's role in the removal of relics from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

The removal of relics from the Kiev Caves Lavra and other cases of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) are the result of personal orders from President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. On August 20, Verkhovna Rada deputy Artyom Dmitruk told Izvestia about this.

"The first and most important thing that we must record for ourselves is that the persecution of the UOC, the destruction of our church, the destruction of the lavra today, blasphemous demonic actions against our shrines, our saints and our relics are the work of Zelensky personally,— he said.

The parliamentarian noted that the head of the Kiev regime is personally responsible for such actions in the lavra, as well as for other facts of persecution of believers. In particular, he noted the detention of Metropolitan Arseny (Yakovenko) in prison.

"Of course, Zelensky's main task in this direction, in the direction of destroying our church, is to destroy our base, our foundation. Actually, like the destruction of holidays, the destruction of our history," said Dmitruk.

The politician stressed that all actions with the relics should be carried out by specially trained people in the appropriate church rank and strictly on certain days. At the same time, everything is currently carried out by people "who have nothing to do with Orthodoxy, with faith."

Dmitruk suggested that schismatics might collect relics, vestments and jewels of saints, which they would then try to sell.

"Inevitably, the post-Maidan period in Ukraine is ending. And those people will return who will defend the rights of believers, the rights of the UOC," he concluded.

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Earlier that day, the staff of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra Museum took out the reliquaries of the saints on the street. The Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) also reported that "some kind of manipulation" was carried out with the relics.

Also, Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy chairman of the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate (MP) for Church-society relations and the media, said that the removal of the relics from the lavra in Kiev speaks of hatred for the Christian shrine.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.