Brawl with pro-Putin priests erupts at Ukraine’s largest cathedral

A cathedral in central Ukraine was the scene of a massive, hours-long brawl as clergy supporting the embattled nation fought with priests that run the house of worship, but that support Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin.

The the holy men raised holy hell in a terrifying scene that involved sticks, buckets, fence bits, and even benches at St Michael’s Cathedral in Cherkasy, central Ukraine, the Daily Mail reported.

Guns were wielded by not fired – though fire extinguishers and gas spray were both deployed, the outlet said.

The brawl came in the aftermath of a Ukrainian movement to suppress the power of the Russian Orthodox Church, which supports Putin’s invasion of the European nation .

Pro-Kyiv clergy tried to muscle in and claim control of the cathedral, resulting in the all-out fisticuffs between the men of the cloth when supporters of the pro-Putin Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate stormed the space.

It was unclear which group actually won out in the end, according to reports.

“The situation in Cherkasy is more dynamic than at the front. The pro-Ukrainian forces regrouped and, as a result of a sudden counterattack, took the cathedral back,” Boroshno News said, despite some reports that the Moscow sect had prevailed.

Metropolitan Feodosiy, leader of the pro-Moscow Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was injured in the fighting, the Church Times reported. 

Despite the chaos, Cherkasy mayor Anatoly Bondarenko actually encouraged locals to come down to the cathedral and express their views about “the existence of a Moscow church in our city,” the Daily Mail said.

“The Russian Orthodox Church occupied the territory of the St. Michael’s Cathedral and is hypocritically called the Ukrainian Church,” military chaplain Father Nazarii said of the effort.

“But in fact, we heard their services, where they already commemorate Patriarch Kirill [staunchly pro-war Putin-loyal head of the Russian Orthodox Church], and do not pray for the Ukrainian army.

“It is necessary to free the whole of Ukraine from Russian occupation and spiritual occupation.”