MP: In Kyiv's botanical garden we have to listen to Church Slavonic dialect

Solomiya Bobrovska. Photo: Bobrovska's Facebook

MP Solomiya Bobrovska was disturbed by prayer in the center of Kyiv. On April 3, 2026, on her Facebook page, she complained that in the M. Hryshko National Botanical Garden, people are "forced" to listen to services from the Trinity-St. Jonah Monastery.

Bobrovska was particularly bothered that the monks pray in "Church Slavonic dialect." She called this "brazen and intrusive audio presence" that allegedly irritates "conscious citizens." The politician is convinced that prayer aloud in urban space is unacceptable and called for limiting this phenomenon.

At the same time, the deputy insists that her demands are not a fight against faith. "Everyone has the right to pray as they see fit. But this right ends where the right of other citizens begins – not to hear this forcibly in public space," Bobrovska stated.

This is far from the first attempt by politicians to fight against the sound of prayer from churches. Two weeks ago she backed a petition to ban broadcasts in the Rivne cathedral. Then Bobrovska characterized the situation as "religious schizophrenia" and declared the language in which the UOC congregation prays an "instrument of Russian influence."

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