Ukraine has accused a Moscow-linked priest of inciting religious hatred

Ukraine’s security service has accused a Moscow-backed Orthodox priest of inciting religious hatred and trying to justify the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.

Petro Lebid, the abbot of the 980-year-old Kiev Monastery of the Pechers – also known as the Kyiv Cave Monastery – has been sentenced to 60 days of house arrest as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church cracked down on allegations it had colluded with Moscow.

The church said the Kiev court also ordered Lebid to wear an electronic bracelet.

The priest has since publicly denied the allegations.

“I didn’t do anything,” Lebid said. “I think it’s a political order.”

Ukrainian news agency Tass reported that Lebid was told to live in a village about 25 miles south-east of Kiev, but Lebid said the house was not habitable.

“There is nothing to sleep on, no heating and no light,” said the priest.

“There is no kitchen, no spoon. But it’s ok, I’ll endure anything.”

Lebid had previously lived in the monastery, but the government ordered the church to leave at midnight on Wednesday.

However, members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church refused to leave the monastery and would not let government officials into the building, leading to a scuffle early Thursday morning.

Ukraine’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko condemned the “brutal” response to government officials and said a complaint had been made to the police

Russia has since expressed outrage at the crackdown on the Orthodox Church.

“Such actions are increasingly plunging Ukraine into the Middle Ages in the worst sense of the word,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.