A landmark Kiev church was attacked on Thursday with Molotov
cocktails, an official said, as tensions flare over a split between the
Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches.
Last month, Kiev voted to hand over Saint Andrew’s Church to
the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate, which earlier agreed to
recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Church from Moscow.
“Molotov cocktails were thrown at the doors” of the church, Kiev-loyal Archbishop Eustratius wrote on Facebook.
The unknown assailants did not cause any serious damage to the
building but they had used “force and gas spray” against a security
guard, he added.
Eustratius accused Moscow of being behind the violence.
Kiev police said they were investigating the case.
The US embassy in Ukraine said it was “very concerned” by reports of an attack on Saint Andrew’s Church.
“We support the right of all religious groups to practice their
beliefs free from persecution, interference, or attack,” the embassy
said on Twitter.
Built in the 18th century on a picturesque hill in the centre of the
capital, Saint Andrew’s is now a museum and has not been used for
services since 2015.
The Orthodox church in Ukraine is divided between a branch whose
clerics pledge loyalty to Moscow and one overseen by the Kiev-based
Patriarch Filaret that Moscow does not recognise.
The split deepened after Russia annexed Crimea and backed a
separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine, sparking a conflict that has
claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2014.
In a historic decision in October, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
I, considered the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide,
agreed to recognise the Ukrainian Church’s independence from Moscow.
The decision was a huge blow to Moscow’s spiritual authority in the Orthodox world.
The Russian Church condemned the move and announced it would break ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate in protest.
