A film crew from the Ukrainian TV channel “1+1,” owned by oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, staged a provocation near the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, offering believers money to kiss icons on camera, demonstrating how parishioners of the Moscow Patriarchate ignore the demands of the Ukrainian authorities on quarantine.
Kiev journalist Vasily Apasov spoke about the incident, publishing photographs of Kolomoisky’s propagandists on his blog, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“This young man with the 1+1 microphone in the photo, having confused our streamer with one of the believers in the temple, asked to kiss the icon in front of the camera. After our streamer refused, he was offered to do it for money.
Dear “Pluses”, if you really need to show footage of someone kissing icons, ignoring precautionary recommendations in connection with quarantine, then be kind enough to do it yourself. You can even kiss each other there, the cameraman’s journalist or vice versa,” said Apasov.
In Ukraine, there was no strict ban on visiting churches on Easter night - President Vladimir Zelensky only recommended that believers stay at home due to quarantine. However, in a number of regions where governors and mayors share anti-Russian sentiments, the police did not allow parishioners into churches, and utility workers deliberately dug trenches near the entrances to churches under the pretext of urgent work to replace sewer pipes.