Russian Foreign Ministry: trial of Metropolitan Pavel is part of Kyiv’s policy on the UOC

The persecution of Metropolitan Pavel in Ukraine is part of Kyiv’s policy to liquidate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said Gennady Askaldovich, special representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry for cooperation in the field of observance of the right to freedom of religion.

“The court set up over the lord fits into the mainstream of Kyiv’s line to liquidate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. For the first time in post-Soviet history, a trial is being prepared for a high-ranking clergyman,” – RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.

According to Askaldovich, the Kiev regime seeks to break the hierarch in order to “disarm” those who defend the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. After all, he was taken into custody, despite the fact that the metropolitan is seriously ill and needs daily medical supervision.

The Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on international human rights organizations to pay attention to what is happening.

Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, condemned the arrest of Metropolitan Pavel and said that Moscow demands the immediate release of the Metropolitan.