News by email Donate

Suggestions

Top Stories

Most Read

Popular Videos

UKRAINE MONASTERY RUSSIAN LINKS banner.JPG
Reuters
UKRAINE MONASTERY RUSSIAN LINKS.JPG
Reuters
World News

Scuffles at Kyiv monastery as Church accused of Russia ties resists eviction

by Reuters Journalist

Scuffles broke out outside a Kyiv monastery on Thursday after a Ukrainian branch of the Orthodox Church that the government says has ties with Russia defied an eviction order.

Tensions over the presence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) at the 980-year-old Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery have risen since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

Kyiv accuses the UOC of maintaining ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has supported Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The UOC says it broke all links with the Russian Church in May 2022.

Hours after a deadline to leave the monastery passed at midnight on Wednesday, members of the UOC refused entry to   representatives of a government commission who wanted to inspect buildings in the gold-domed monastery's sprawling complex.

Shortly afterward, scuffles broke out in which a Reuters reporter was hit and shoved by an unidentified man and another reporter was pushed away by a cleric as she tried to approach him. No one was hurt. 

Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko later condemned the "brutal" treatment of the commission members. He said in a statement that the government had filed a complaint with police and that efforts to inspect the buildings would continue on Friday.

The UOC is Ukraine's second-largest church, though most Ukrainian Orthodox believers belong to a separate branch of the faith, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formed four years ago by uniting branches independent of Moscow's authority.

Russia condemned Kyiv's push against the UOC as an outrage and a crime.

"Such actions are increasingly plunging Ukraine into the Middle Ages in the very worst sense of the word," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on the Telegram app.

The deputy head of a Ukrainian state body responsible for the monastery earlier this month said that a government commission was being established to make decisions on questions related to the UOC's tenancy agreement at the monastery.

The government says the UOC broke the terms of its tenancy and constructed buildings at the monastery illegally. The UOC denies this.

 (Additonal reporting by Olena Harmash and David Ljunggren; Writing by Max Hunder; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Mark Porter)
 

A Monthly Gift Of $11 Makes A World Of Difference

In a world of fake news there’s never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. Premier’s mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. But we can’t do it without you.

Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall — we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. Premier’s news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. No one in the USA is sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today.

For a monthly gift of $11 or more we’d also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture.

Your monthly support will make a world of difference. Thank you.

Support Us
Continue the conversation on our Facebook page

Related Articles

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed with news from a Christian perspective.

News by email

Connect

Donate

Donate