This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Zelenskyi has launched the latest “offensive against Orthodoxy”. Like, the “attack" on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the eviction of priests testifies to the “satanist views of the Ukrainian authorities”.

The experts of the EU vs Disinfo investigated the case and explained that the topic of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine escalated after sanctions were imposed on the UOC-MP by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, as well as after the termination of the right to lease part of the premises of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and a number of searches and criminal cases against priests. Russian propaganda considers such actions of Ukraine illegal, but does not take into account that, in general, it has no right to interfere in the affairs of another sovereign state.

Ukraine “does not capture” the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, because it has always been state property. In 2013, the Azarov government leased the premises of the Lavra to the UOC-MP. However, in 2022, a special commission found that the UOC-MP violated the terms of the lease agreement. For example, illegal construction and reconstruction of historical monuments was carried out on the territory of the Lavra.

Thus, propaganda is trying to convince its consumers that Ukraine's actions are contrary to religious canons, and therefore it is worth mobilizing and saving the “canonical Orthodox Church” with weapons.

On March 29, 2023, the Agreement on the lease of premises between the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” and the UOC-MP ended. The representation of the UOC-MP should leave the Lavra, but the clergy of the church refused to comply with the decision of the Ministry of Culture. On March 30, representatives of the UOC-MP held a service in the Lavra, which was broadcast live on social networks. Metropolitan of the UOC-MP Pavlo behaved aggressively and threatened to beat the journalist with a stick.