Ukrainian Orthodox Priest on Hunger Strike Passes Out in Mariupol'

A clergyman of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol' has passed out in front of the city administration. The priest, Fr. Volodymyr Koskin, began a hunger strike with two of his parishioners when the Mariupol' city authorities refused to allocate land to the Kiev Patriarchate for the construction of a temple for his parish, the Church of St. Panteleimon. Although parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in need of land are allocated it free of charge, in the region Kiev Patriarchate parishes must first request a land allocation and then buy it outright.

The Mariupol' city administration says that the parish's application for land was not rejected because of its jurisdictional affiliation, but rather because it applied for land in an area of the city not designated for church construction. More here.