Communities torn as Ukraine turns its back on Moscow-linked church

Members of the church choir, which switched from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) rehearsing, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Hrabivtsi, Vinnytsia region, Ukraine April 22, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KARYSHKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - As a crowd gathered outside the white-brick Orthodox church in the village of Karyshkiv in western Ukraine, raised voices quickly turned to shouting. Soon old women were crying.

The villagers were quarrelling over the affiliation of their parish church, which belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) that the government in Kyiv accuses of being under the influence of Moscow.