In Kyiv, the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine held its first Christmas service in the contested Monastery of the Cave (Pecerska Lavra), previously dependent on the Moscow Patriarchate but claimed by Ukraine as a result of the war, DPA and France Presse report on Saturday, according to Agerpres.

Several hundred believers, dozens of journalists and the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkacenko accepted the invitation to the divine service on Saturday in the Assumption Cathedral (Uspenski Sobor).

The service was also broadcast live on Ukrainian television. For the first time, Metropolitan Epiphany, the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, autocephalous and created in 2018-2019 after a schism with the Russian Church, led the Christmas service in the Assumption Cathedral of this 11th-century monastery, the largest from the country.

Worshipers, including men in military uniform, were gathered under a heavy police presence, AFP journalists noted. Participants were required to show their passports and pass through metal detectors.

Agerpres