On Friday, a Kiev court changed the measure of restraint for Pavel from round-the-clock house arrest to detention until August 14.
"We demand the Kiev regime fully comply with its international legal obligations, immediately release Metropolitan Pavel, who is suffering from a serious illness, and provide him with adequate medical care," Zakharova said in statement.
Earlier in the day, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia called on the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and heads of churches, including Pope Francis, to protect the vicegerent of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
Pope Francis has responded to the appeal of Patriarch Kirill and will try to facilitate the release of Metropolitan Pavel, believing his arrest to be politically motivated, Leonid Sevastyanov, the leader of a Russian sect who communicates regularly with Pope Francis, told Sputnik on Saturday.
"I spoke with Pope Francis directly. He told me that he knows about Patriarch Kirill's appeal and will try to facilitate the release of Metropolitan Pavel. I don't know how exactly he will do it — whether he will make an official statement, write a letter, or intervene through diplomatic channels. But that he responded to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill's appeal is a fact," Sevastyanov told Sputnik.
He also said that the Pope spoke out against politically motivated arrests in Ukraine.
"Pope Francis believes that arrests on political and religious grounds are unacceptable, especially arrests of leaders of religious communities, in this case, Metropolitan Pavel," Sevastyanov said.
The Russian Orthodox Church said that Patriarch Kirill addressed various religious and political prominent figures and urged them to pay attention to the ongoing persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Ukraine.
Tensions between the Ukrainian government and the UOC escalated after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. UOC monks were ordered to leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, jurisdiction over which is divided between the National Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve, a Ukrainian cultural organization, and the UOC, for allegedly violating the terms of the lease. Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko then said that the monks could stay in the Lavra if they joined the non-canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Lavra monks slammed the unilateral eviction order as illegal as it was not backed by a court decision.
In April, Tkachenko said that the Ukrainian Culture Ministry had formed a commission to look into the use of state property pertaining to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.