Sawt Falasteen - Ukraine says no eviction 'by force' of Kyiv monks

The government announced it would terminate the lease allowing the monks to occupy part of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra for free on March 29, but said the eviction process could take weeks.

Under a light snowfall, hundreds of worshippers gathered in and outside the 11th-century golden-domed church to attend morning mass led by Metropolitan Pavlo.

"I want to assure you: the law is on our side. According to the law, to the constitution, they cannot evict us," he said.

"The case is in the hands of the courts... They don't have the right to kick out clerics... until a judicial decision is reached," he added.

The ancient cave monastery, which overlooks the Dnipro River, has played a crucial role in both Ukrainian and Russian history.

Despite the church officially breaking ties with the Russian Patriarchate after the invasion of Ukraine last year, Kyiv believes it is still de facto dependent on Moscow.

The monks said they would remain as long as physically possible, raising fears of a confrontation as the eviction deadline loomed.

On Wednesday the situation at the monastery was calm.

Like in previous days, the police were checking entries and opening car boots, but visitors were allowed in and out.

- No violence -

"No one will drag anyone by the legs, there will be no eviction by force, everything will be done in accordance with the law," said the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov.

The representatives of the "Moscow church" will still have to leave eventually, Danilov said.

"The eviction procedure must be launched today (but) there is no specific date" for when the monks will have to leave, Sergiy Samoylenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian culture ministry, told AFP.

Samoylenko also said there would be no violent eviction.

Among the worshippers gathered Wednesday, 49-year-old Mykolay denounced a "clearly political" decision.

"We will protect it, this is our sanctuary," Mykolay told AFP.

"This is lawlessness... a Godless government persecutes us Orthodox people," he said.

Uncertainty remains about the fate of the 200 monks and 300 students who usually live on the grounds of the monastery.

Archimandrite Nikon told AFP that the Ukrainian government's demand was "unfair" and "doing wrong in relation to the citizens of Ukraine and to the monks."

Asked if he feared eviction, he said "everything is possible, the devil is not sleeping."

I.Yassin--SF-PST