You're reading: FEMEN’s escapade not to mar Patriarch Kirill’s visit to Ukraine, says patriarchal office

The deputy head of the patriarchal press service, Deacon Alexander Volkov, has expressed regret over the actions of an activist of the Ukrainian feminist movement FEMEN at the welcome ceremony for Head of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill at Boryspil Airport in Kyiv. 

“It is regrettable that people are trying to mar the start of the visit of Patriarch Kirill to Ukraine with such tricks,” he told journalists in Kyiv on Thursday, while commenting on the actions of a bare-breasted woman, who ran to the patriarch, who was communicating with journalists on the runway at the airport, crying “Izydi!” (“Go back!” – a religious formula for exorcism).

“This kind of incident cannot overshadow the primate’s visit and only shows there is a deep spiritual crisis in certain sections of society,” he added.