Kyiv Monastery Complex Faces Escalating Tensions.

The Ukrainian government is ordering the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to vacate the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a sprawling monastic complex that is Ukraine's most revered Orthodox site, claiming that the monks violated their lease by making alterations to the historic site and other technical infractions. The UOC has insisted that it's loyal to Ukraine, has denounced the Russian invasion from the start, and has even declared its independence from Moscow. The dispute is part of a wider religious conflict playing out in parallel with the war, and the stakes are high as the complex has been called the "pearl of Ukraine" and the "Vatican" of Ukrainian Orthodoxy.