In response to Oleksandr Tkachenko’s statement that the monks should leave the Lavra within three days, Verkhovna Rada Deputy Artem Dmytruk said that the Minister of Culture is “a super-incompetent person in his field,” the First Cossack channel reports.

Dmytruk added that Oleksandr Tkachenko “demonstrates the barbaric attitude of the servants of the Ukrainian state towards believers.”

“I am deeply convinced that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was, is and will be Ukrainian, and most importantly – God’s! By the way, the petition for the resignation of Oleksandr Tkachenko from the post of Minister of Culture has already gained the required number of votes, even more (more precisely, 25,807). Therefore, it’s time leave before they dishonor such a respected ministry even more,” said Artem Dmytruk.