"Today, a step has also been taken to strengthen the spiritual independence of our state, to protect our society from the old and cynical Moscow manipulations of religion. Ukraine is the territory of the greatest religious freedom in our part of Europe. It's been that way since 1991. This will always be the case," Zelensky said in a video message.
Earlier, the national reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" obliged the monks of the canonical UOC to leave the buildings of the reserve until March 29.
The head of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko said that the monks of the canonical UOC will be able to stay in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra if they go to the schismatics.
After that, the ministers of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra filed a lawsuit in the court of Ukraine with a demand to challenge the rights to the monastery, but three judges recused themselves.
The Federation Council of Russia called on the parliaments of the countries of the world to demand that Ukraine stop discriminating against believers.