KYIV: Tears of joy streamed down worshippers鈥� faces as Ukraine鈥檚 main church celebrated a 鈥渞eturn鈥� to Kyiv鈥檚 Cathedral of the Assumption on Orthodox Christmas day, shortly after taking control of it from a rival church with alleged ties to Russia.
The golden-domed cathedral, of huge cultural and religious significance, sits on a high hill in the center of Kyiv by the river Dnipro, and forms part of the 980-year-old Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, also containing chapels and administrative buildings.
It has become a focus of a bitter conflict between Ukraine鈥檚 Orthodox communities, triggered by Russia鈥檚 invasion.
Members of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukraine鈥檚 largest, piled into the cathedral鈥檚 ornate interior on Saturday, to hear the first-ever Ukrainian-language service in the cathedral.
鈥淒uring these days of festivities, with strong feelings we ask God: Help us to defeat the enemy, who brought grief into our home. Help us to finally drive out the foreign invasion from the Ukrainian land,鈥� said the OCU鈥檚 Metropolitan Epifaniy I.
Vadym Storozhyk, a 50-year-old Kyiv city councillor, said the Christmas service meant to him a 鈥渞eturn鈥� of a holy site under Ukraine鈥檚 control.
鈥淭hirty years after renewing our history and gaining our independence 鈥� we return to our holy places, to our (spiritual) sources,鈥� he said.
Ukraine鈥檚 culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, who attended the service with the speaker of Ukraine鈥檚 parliament, posted a message on Facebook celebrating what he said was the end of three-and-a-half centuries of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra鈥檚 鈥渃apture鈥� by Moscow.
Ukraine鈥檚 Orthodox Church, in its various iterations, has been subordinate to Moscow since the 17th century.
In a note at the bottom of his post, Tkachenko hinted at a major change to Ukraine鈥檚 Christmas celebrations, hitherto always held on Jan. 7, the same date as Russia and several other Orthodox-majority countries.
鈥淚 hope that this year all the churches will come to an agreement and we will celebrate Christmas together on December 25th,鈥� he wrote.
Ukraine has about 30 million Orthodox believers, divided between different church communities. The war, now in its 11th month, has led many Ukrainians to rally round the OCU, which they see as more pro-Ukrainian than its rival, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
The UOC was officially under the wing of Russia鈥檚 Orthodox Church until May 2022, but announced a severing of ties due to the Moscow church鈥檚 support for the war.
President Vladimir Putin on Saturday praised the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting Moscow鈥檚 forces fighting in Ukraine in an Orthodox Christmas message and called it an important stabilising force in society.
Despite cutting ties, the UOC still faces allegations of pro-Russian views and direct collaboration with Moscow, which it denies, from Ukraine鈥檚 government and from much of Ukraine鈥檚 press and civil society. The UOC says it is the victim of a political witch hunt by its enemies in government.
The UOC was evicted from the cathedral after its lease from the government expired.
The handover of the cathedral took many by surprise 鈥� an OCU priest, Vasyl Rudnytskyi, looked stunned as he walked toward the building鈥檚 gates amid the deafening pealing of bells.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even consider the possibility of this two weeks ago, or the fact that we would celebrate Jesus鈥� birth in such a meaningful place for the Ukrainian people,鈥� he said.

The OCU was established in 2019 and recognized as Ukraine鈥檚 official branch of Orthodoxy by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul, the global head of the Orthodox Church.
That decision infuriated Russia鈥檚 Orthodox Church, as Istanbul had previously recognized the UOC, then under Moscow鈥檚 rule, as the legitimate Ukrainian church.
Some of the UOC鈥檚 clergy and many of its worshippers moved to the OCU, to the former organization鈥檚 dismay. Both churches say the other is canonically illegitimate. Although the OCU soon had more worshippers than the old church, the UOC maintained control of over 12,000 churches, including the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra complex.
Ukraine鈥檚 government institutions and local press often refer to the UOC as the 鈥淢oscow Patriarchate,鈥� a label the church rejects. A poll last August showed the UOC only retaining 20 percent of its worshippers from 2021, suggesting many had left it since the invasion, but the church told Reuters this data didn鈥檛 correspond to reality.
The UOC鈥檚 spokesman, Metropolitan Kliment, told Reuters the government鈥檚 actions were a 鈥減rovocation intended to upset and humiliate millions of UOC worshippers.鈥�
Lyudmyla, a 69-year-old worshipper, said she feared the government was biased against the UOC.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like this. We need to be united not divided, right now. And this could lead to some kind of religious split (in our society),鈥� she said.
The UOC鈥檚 monasteries and churches, including the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, faced a wave of searches by Ukrainian security forces and the police have announced a string of investigations.
Authorities said they found pro-Russian literature and Russian citizens being harbored on church premises, something the UOC denied.