The Ministry of Culture announced its intention to seize the capital's churches and monasteries from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The head of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve “Ancient Kyiv” (part of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, ed.) Roman Malenkov announced that in the near future, the “reserve” will begin work on the expropriation of the Pokrovsky and Florovsky monasteries of the UOC, as well as the Holy Cross and Ilyinsky churches, which are architectural monuments. Malenkov claims that it will be possible to take these religious buildings away from the Church thanks to a decision by the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, which “found” signs of the UOC’s affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate. The official wrote about this on his Facebook account.

«Well, the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience has made its official conclusion. Signs of affiliation of the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Russian Orthodox Church, whose activities are prohibited in Ukraine, have been found. There are three churches and two large monasteries of the UOC-MP on the territory of the Ancient Kyiv Historical and Architectural Reserve. The Ilyinsky and Krestovozdvizhensky churches are unique monuments, but the monasteries, with dozens of buildings in the heart of the Ukrainian capital, are something else. Pokrovsky has the largest Orthodox church in Kyiv, and Florovsky, located near a strategic facility of Ukraine, could be a source of information for Russia. And what they have set up there, how many laws they have violated — it’s impossible to count. So, let’s get started. The UOC-MP must disappear, at least within the boundaries of the reserve,» — Malenkov wrote.