Why Russian priests are being expelled from a monastery in Kyiv

In my hometown we have three Orthodox churches, two of which are formally aligned with the Moscow patriarchate. They mostly say Russian prayers but, growing up, this was not seen as important. My family would go to both and see them as interchangeable: you’d stand, pray, kiss icons, take communion. Many Ukrainians never gave it much thought. This all changed when Vladimir Putin invaded last year. Only then was it clear just how he had been using the Russian church as a tool of his state: not just in Russia, but in Ukraine too.

Previously neutral priests publicly prayed for Putin’s success, telling their parishioners how to help the invading forces. When Ukrainian forces investigated, they found guns, rubles and Soviet symbols in some church vaults. Abbots were arrested for handing over the coordinates of the Ukrainian positions. Even Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who in 2019 recognised the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said Russia’s