Building seized during Holy Week demonstration

MOSCOW — Orthodox Christian monks, novices and lay people used the Orthodox Holy Week to illegally occupy a former church in Kiev that belongs to the Ukrainian government in an attempt to force the return of the property.

Up to 200 people took part in the initial takeover of the small 18th-century baroque church on Saturday when they forced their way in and planted a wooden cross just outside the entrance. That number has now dwindled to about a dozen monks and novices who maintain a round-the-clock presence. Police are observing the squatters but have made no arrests, Kovalenko said.

The sprawling monastery, one of the holiest sites in Orthodoxy, is divided into two halves, one controlled by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the other by the government. The disputed church building is in the government half.