Ukrainian authorities have arrested a priest in the eastern region of the Luhansk territory and accused him of providing intelligence to the Russian army and soldiers of the affiliated self-declared Luhansk People's Republic.
Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai announced on his Telegram social media account that the unidentified priest served the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, an affiliate of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was apprehended Tuesday.
"The police found messages between Russian soldiers. This citizen was disclosing the number of Ukrainian soldiers and where they were located," Haidai wrote.
Bishop Kirill, the Patriarch of Moscow and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, has expressed support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for Russian citizens to obey the government, "even if it costs them their life."
The declaration has added to the divide between the Russian Orthodox Church and its Ukrainian Orthodox affiliate. Members of the Ukrainian parliament have introduced a bill that would ban the Russian church outright and confiscate its property.
Earlier this month, Rev. Valeriy Onufryi in the parish of St. Nicholas Church in Boyarka, near Kyiv, looted his own church after he was asked to leave. According to the website of the Kyiv Military Lyceum, which the church was a part of, the head of the establishment, Igor Gordiychuk, had received complaints about the priest, including his denials of reported Russian crimes in Ukraine and praise for the Russian Orthodox Church.
"We have martial law, open warfare. The best of our men and women, even kids, are dying. As the head of the Lyceum I can't just let some Russian minion be present at my military establishment," Gordiychuk wrote.
Following the cleric's dismissal, icons, the throne used for liturgy and religious wall items disappeared. The reports say the priest also dug out the flowers planted around the church.
The looted church has officially joined the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
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