The head of Russian Orthodox Church on Saturday accused Ukraine of "persecuting" believers by banning a Moscow-linked church and called on the international community to speak out.
Patriarch Kirill, Moscow's Orthodox spiritual leader, urged other Christian religious leaders and international organisations to "raise their voices in defence of persecuted believers" he said were in a "critical" situation in Ukraine. He spoke on the day that Ukraine's president signed into law a bill banning the Russian-linked branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
