Ukraine says it shot down Russian fighter jets and drones as the country officially marks Christmas
Kyiv, UkraineAP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday hailed the shooting down of two Russian fighter jets on Christmas Eve and said “this Christmas sets the right mood for the entire year ahead.” In a Christmas message marking the first time the country has officially observed the holiday on 25th December rather than 7th January, […]
Orthodox Church: Ukrainian churches purge vestiges of Russian influence
For centuries, Orthodox Ukrainians saw the traditional Julian calendar as one of the anchors of their church’s identity. Now many are switching to the Gregorian calendar. MEAGAN SALIASHVILI reports for Religion News Service…
Angry Russia refuses to speak at UN meeting on its attacks on Ukraine’s key port city of Odesa
United NationsAP In an escalation of Russia’s anger at Ukraine and its Western backers, Russia refused to speak at a UN Security Council meeting called to disuss Moscow’s recent devastating attacks on the key port of Odesa immediately following its refusal to extend the Black Sea grain deal. The confrontation began at the start of a council […]
Battle over ownership of Ukrainian monastery heats up again
RNS Orthodox Christians who support their church’s historic ties to Moscow prevented the Ukrainian government from taking possession of several buildings at the Monastery of the Caves complex in Kyiv on Tuesday, with dozens of protesters surrounding the entrance and blocking officials from entering. The fate of the 1,000-year-old Pechersk Lavra complex has been in […]
Orthodox Church: After calendar change, many in Ukraine are looking forward to a new Christmas
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine has further cemented its split from the Russian counterpart it used to be a part of by adopting a new liturgical calendar. DAVID I KLEIN, of Religion News Service, reports…
Ukraine’s main church to switch calendar in move away from Russia
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Ukraine’s main Orthodox church said on Wednesday it had decided to switch to a calendar in which Christmas is celebrated on 25th December, a move that distances it from Russia. Ukrainian Christians, a majority of whom are Orthodox, have traditionally celebrated Christmas on 7th January alongside other predominantly Orthodox Christian countries such as […]
Church schism: Communities torn as Ukraine turns its back on Moscow-linked church
MAX HUNDER, of Reuters, reports on the impact on communities as authorities crackdown on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church…
Church accused of Moscow ties expelled from two parishes in western Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters A Ukrainian branch of the Orthodox church accused of ties with Russia was expelled from the premises of two places of worship on Wednesday amid rising public anger against the organisation 14 months into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian police officers stand next to St George’s Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, […]
Chaplains made part of Ukraine’s military as war drags on
Kyiv, Ukraine AP To the haunting chants of a church choir in Kyiv’s 11th century Saint Sophia Cathedral, the first group of chaplains to join the Ukrainian military’s command structure graduated in a ceremony Saturday. Heads of church organisations bless Ukrainian military chaplains during the official ceremony of presenting certificates at Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, […]
Ukrainian court puts an Orthodox leader under house arrest
Kyiv, Ukraine AP A Kyiv court ordered a leading priest to be put under house arrest Saturday after Ukraine’s top security agency said he was suspected of justifying Russian aggression, a criminal offence. It was the latest move in a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery. Metropolitan Pavel is the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s […]