A Ukrainian priest from a church affiliated with Russia has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of assisting Russian, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday.
Ukraine's government has been tasked with drawing up a law on banning churches affiliated with Russia under moves portrayed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as necessary to prevent Moscow being able to "weaken Ukraine from within."
The priest, from the eastern Luhansk region, was not named and could not be reached for comment. He had been collecting information on equipment and weapons held by the Ukrainian military since mid-April, the state prosecutors said.
