Ukraine Steps Up Pressure on Orthodox Church, Arrests Top Cleric

Ukraine Steps Up Pressure on Orthodox Church, Arrests Top Cleric
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) servicemen stand at the entrance of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv on Nov. 22, 2022, Sergei Chuzavkov/AFP via Getty Images
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The government in Kyiv has placed a Ukrainian Orthodox Church leader under house arrest and demanded that Orthodox monks vacate a 1,000-year-old monastery, amid a clampdown on the church.

Ukrainian officials accuse the church of harboring pro-Russia sympathies and collaborating with Moscow. The church, which distanced itself from Moscow after last year’s invasion of Ukraine, denies the allegations.