In central Ukraine, a wild brawl broke out among clergy at the St Michael’s Cathedral in Cherkasy. The fight was over who gets to control the cathedral – those supporting Ukraine or those backing Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin. Sticks, fences, even benches were used as weapons. Fire extinguishers and gas spray were deployed, but no guns were fired.
This chaos happened after Ukraine began to limit the Russian Orthodox Church’s power, which backs Putin’s invasion. Clergy from Ukraine tried to take the cathedral, leading to a huge fight with supporters of the pro-Putin Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Nobody really knew who won. Some said pro-Ukrainian forces took the cathedral back, while others said the Moscow sect won. The pro-Moscow church leader, Metropolitan Feodosiy, got hurt. Even the mayor encouraged locals to share their thoughts about the situation.
“The Russian Orthodox Church is just pretending to be the Ukrainian Church, ” said military chaplain Father Nazarii. “They pray for the wrong things. ”
The fight started because the cathedral is under the Russian Orthodox Church. Many want Ukraine free from both physical and spiritual Russian occupation.
