The nationalists tried, but failed, to disrupt the religious procession of the Moscow Patriarchate in Kyiv
A prayer service and religious procession were held in Kyiv to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the introduction of Prince Vladimir of Kyiv and the anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'. The events were not without provocations, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator – Kyiv news on Facebook , Odnoklassniki , or VKontakte
The UOC did not hide the fact that they were expecting provocations. “We have never held meetings of this scale before, so we do not rule out that this could become a reason for provocations against the UOC,” said the chairman of the administrative apparatus of the Kyiv Metropolis, Archimandrite Victor, the day before.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that order during the events was ensured by a fairly large number of law enforcement officers.
Not far from Vladimirskaya Gorka, where a prayer service was held at the monument to Prince Vladimir, the agency’s correspondent witnessed how a small group of anti-Moscow-minded people attacked priests and parishioners of the UOC who were heading to the prayer service.
“Christ-sellers, you support Moscow’s aggression,” shouted one of the opponents of the UOC. – Children are dying in Donbass, but they fly to pray. To whom? Get out of Ukrainian land."
Nationalists were particularly outraged by the fact that representatives from the western regions of Ukraine arrived to participate in the prayer service and procession.
“There is a war going on, and they serve Moscow,” added another protester. - How is this possible? There shouldn't be a Moscow church here at all. Putin started this war, and the church must end it. And this should be the Ukrainian church. We live in Ukraine, which means there should be a Ukrainian church here. I wonder if there is a Ukrainian church in Moscow?”
However, this attempt to interfere with the Orthodox event did not affect anything and was the only one.
After the prayer service on Vladimirskaya Hill, a procession of thousands began to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, which virtually paralyzed traffic in the center of the capital.
In front of the column, the clergy carried the ark with relics and the icon of Saint Prince Vladimir.
Closer to the head of the column walked clergy with eight icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary brought to Kyiv from different regions of the country, which are considered miraculous among the Orthodox of Ukraine.
At the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the Primate of the UOC, Metropolitan Onuphry, led an all-night vigil on the cathedral square near the Assumption Cathedral.
Together with him, the service was conducted by the metropolitans of all Ukrainian dioceses, as well as archbishops and metropolitans representing the Orthodox churches of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic.
Let us add that in February of this year, President Poroshenko signed a decree “On honoring the memory of Prince Vladimir the Great of Kyiv in connection with the 1000th anniversary of his repose.” As stated in the document, it was published “with the aim of preserving and establishing the traditions of Ukrainian statehood, recalling the role of the historical heritage of Rus'-Ukraine in their formation, recognizing the importance of the adoption of Christianity for the development of Ukrainian society as an integral part of European civilization, the memory of Vladimir the Great - an outstanding state and political figure, creator of the medieval European state of Rus'-Ukraine.”
It is worth noting that by his decree, the Ukrainian president not only introduced the name of a state of the medieval period unknown to historians (Rus-Ukraine), but also awarded Prince Vladimir the title “Great”, although he was always known as Vladimir the Saint or Vladimir the Red Sun.