Volodymyr Ivakhnenko has been a freelance correspondent for RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in Kyiv since 1994.
Long suspected as a tool of Russian soft power, the Russian Orthodox Church has openly embraced the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. That’s accelerated efforts in a growing number of countries to weaken ties with the Moscow church–or kick it out entirely.
A political scandal is mounting over the grave of a Soviet military commander in central Kyiv, amid claims Ukraine plans to demolish the monument and cremate his body.
Crimean Tatars are denouncing a sweeping crackdown on their community following the detention of a fourth man over clashes with police earlier this year. Crimean Tatar leaders have opposed the annexation of their peninsula by Russia.
Orthodox Church leaders from around the world are heading to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, which this weekend marks the 1,025th anniversary of the conversion to Christianity of Kievan Rus, the medieval Slavic state that helped give birth to modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. But some in Ukraine are expecting the religious commemoration to be upstaged by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who may be looking to reassert Moscow's influence over its post-Soviet neighbor.
