Coronavirus hits headquarters of Ukraine church that opposed social distancing

A woman wearing a protective face mask walks in the territory of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Kiev, Ukraine April 9, 2020. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KIEV (Reuters) - The coronavirus has infected 26 people at the thousand-year-old headquarters of Ukraine's Russian-backed Orthodox Christian denomination, which had urged worshippers to defy lockdown orders, according to figures released by the mayor of Kiev.

Kiev Pechersk Lavra is the headquarters for the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, often referred to as the Moscow Patriarchate. Its gold-domed towers and labyrinthine caves housing the mummified bodies of monks since the 11th century are among the capital's cultural treasures.