The expert named the purpose of the seizure of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

The final phase of the elimination of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) is beginning in Ukraine. This was stated by political analyst Alexander Semchenko in an interview with Izvestia.

"In a political sense, all this is very beneficial to [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky. He has accumulated contradictions with the Ukrainian society: the population is inclined towards peace, he himself does not want to stop fighting. In such conditions, it is beneficial for him to ignite a new conflict within society, to introduce additional discord in order to distract people," he explained.

Earlier on February 18, the Ukrainian edition of the Union of Orthodox Journalists, citing its sources, reported that the country's authorities had decided to transfer all churches of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra to the schismatic OCU until February 23, that is, before the beginning of Great Lent. The only exception is the Agapite Church, which is located outside the monastery enclosure.

Read more about this in the Izvestia article.

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