UK sanctions Russian Orthodox head; decries forced adoption

By: The Associated Press Posted: Last Modified:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

LONDON (AP) — Britain announced a new round of sanctions Thursday against Russia, targeting the head of the Russian Orthodox Church for his prominent support for the war in Ukraine as well as Russia's children's rights commissioner, who Britain said is responsible for the forced transfer and adoption of hundreds of Ukrainian children into Russia.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/06/2022 (1520 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON (AP) — Britain announced a new round of sanctions Thursday against Russia, targeting the head of the Russian Orthodox Church for his prominent support for the war in Ukraine as well as Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, who Britain said is responsible for the forced transfer and adoption of hundreds of Ukrainian children into Russia.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has “repeatedly abused his position to justify the war” on Ukraine. Kirill is a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Truss also targeted children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, who has been accused of enabling the taking of 2,000 vulnerable children from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine and facilitating their forced adoptions in Russia.

FILE - Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill conducts the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, April 24, 2022. Kirill has been removed from the latest round of European Union measures to punish Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the insistence of Hungary, four EU diplomats told The Associated Press. The sixth package of sanctions, which includes an embargo on most Russian oil imports into the 27-nation bloc by year-end, was approved by ambassadors Thursday following a political deal reached earlier this week by heads of states and governments. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)
FILE - Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill conducts the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, April 24, 2022. Kirill has been removed from the latest round of European Union measures to punish Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the insistence of Hungary, four EU diplomats told The Associated Press. The sixth package of sanctions, which includes an embargo on most Russian oil imports into the 27-nation bloc by year-end, was approved by ambassadors Thursday following a political deal reached earlier this week by heads of states and governments. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

Others on Thursday’s list include four colonels from a brigade known to have killed, raped and tortured civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

Truss also said Britain’s government is “taking all steps we can” regarding two British citizens sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces in Ukraine.

She said officials are in regular talks with the Ukrainian government about Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, who were sentenced last week alongside a Moroccan, Brahim Saadoun, for allegedly fighting as mercenaries by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

“These people are prisoners of war. They were fighting legitimately with the Ukrainian army,” Truss said. “What Russia has done is a complete violation of the Geneva Convention. We are taking all steps we can.”

FILE - Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill conducts the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, April 24, 2022. Britain has announced a new round of sanctions against Russia. Those targeted include Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who Britain said “repeatedly abused his position to justify” Russia's war on Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)
FILE - Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill conducts the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, April 24, 2022. Britain has announced a new round of sanctions against Russia. Those targeted include Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who Britain said “repeatedly abused his position to justify” Russia's war on Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

Related Articles

Ukraine gets possible path to EU, aid pledges from Britain
Search and rescue workers and local residents remove a body from under the rubble of a building after a Russian air raid in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, Thursday, June 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Leaders pledge arms and EU path for Ukraine in Kyiv visit
Police members inspect a crater caused by a Russian rocket attack in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

The Free Press acknowledges the financial support it receives from members of the city’s faith community, which makes our coverage of religion possible.

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Europe anxious as ever about immigration

Kyle Volpi Hiebert 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

It was only a matter of time before immigration would again panic Europe. The issue has roiled the continent’s politics ever since its 2015 migrant crisis, when 1.3 million unauthorized migrants crossed its borders that summer. They exposed a broken immigration system in the process, triggering a populist backlash that hasn’t dimmed.

All those same tensions were reignited in late July, when 72,000 migrants converged on the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in just 24 hours. The city — a holdover from Spain’s colonial era — is Europe’s only land border with Africa, nestled next to Morocco. It was almost instantly overrun.

Dozens of people died in the chaos, while the reasons for the sudden influx remain unknown. However, virtually all the arrivals were sent back to Morocco almost immediately; some spent a few days in makeshift holding centres. None were recorded as finding their way to mainland Europe.

Still, the episode inflamed divisions in a region caught in existential limbo. Ultranationalist political parties are ascendant — yet low birth rates and stagnant productivity mean Europe’s future largely hinges on accepting more newcomers.

THE CANADIAN PRESS / Jacques Boissinot Prime Minister Mark Carney

Signs the Carney approach is working

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Signs the Carney approach is working

Editorial 4 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026

It was, if nothing else, a glowing review in trying times.

Matt Winkler, the editor in chief emeritus of Bloomberg News, spoke last week on Bloomberg Business News Daily about a recent Bloomberg analysis of the performance of the Canadian economy, and this country as a target for investment

“This is one of the greatest periods for overseas investment in Canada that we’ve seen in the century, and it may be unprecedented, because we have to wait for the rest of the year. … Money is pouring into Canada like we have not seen from everywhere. Stocks and bonds are the obvious beneficiaries,” Winkler said. He argued that Canada is both liked and seen as reasonable.

“The point is… Canada since Mark Carney became prime minister in 2025, has outperformed everyone in America and also the Eurozone and anywhere in the world. The 10 largest stock markets in the world, Canada appreciated the most, more than 40 per cent. … Its bond market is also doing great, partially because the inflation rate in Canada, unlike the Eurozone or America, is actually trending lower, and is outperforming both the Eurozone and the U.S.”

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Sea Bears guard Teddy Allen, 28, was injured in the Aug. 3 assault.

Three security guards charged with assault after Sea Bears star injured outside nightclub

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Preview

Three security guards charged with assault after Sea Bears star injured outside nightclub

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:50 PM CDT

Three security guards are facing assault charges, accused of injuring a Winnipeg Sea Bears player at a nightclub earlier this month.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 12:50 PM CDT
TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN FILES Kinew described the province’s current stance as “no CUSMA, no booze-ma,” but said Manitoba will join the rest of Canada if it's determined putting American liquor back on store shelves helps with trade negotiations.

‘No CUSMA, no booze-ma’: Kinew

Malak Abas 4 minute read Preview

‘No CUSMA, no booze-ma’: Kinew

Malak Abas 4 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026

With the next round of tariffs set to hit Canadian goods next week, and a new report suggesting Manitobans could be severely impacted if the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade breaks down, Premier Wab Kinew pledged Wednesday to keep working with the U.S. ambassador — and keep American booze off Manitoba shelves, for now.

Read
Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026

Psychologist sentenced to house arrest after affair with patient

Dean Pritchard 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:31 PM CDT

A psychologist who didn’t disclose her sexual affair with a mental-health patient under her care when she testified on his behalf before the Criminal Code Review Board has been sentenced to 18 months house arrest.

“The offence represents a significant affront to the administration of justice,” provincial court Judge Kusham Sharma said at a sentencing hearing for woman earlier this week.

A court-order bars the publication of details that could identify those involved in the case, after the patient pleaded guilty in 2024 to criminally harassing the psychologist’s husband. The patient has anti-social and borderline personality disorders with psychopathic traits.

Sharma convicted the woman last March of one count each of breach of trust by a public official and attempting to obstruct justice.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Streat Feast vendor Marilyn Magtoto prepares the sinigang for her sinigang birria tacos.

Fusion pop-up coming to street food festival

Tiago Resko 4 minute read Preview

Fusion pop-up coming to street food festival

Tiago Resko 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

After surviving breast cancer and watching her husband live through a brain tumour, Marilyn Magtoto decided it was time to take a chance.

Magtoto left her corporate job as a mortgage specialist in July to start M3 Cravings, a pop-up restaurant that blends the traditional Filipino cuisine she grew up on with Mexican street food.

“To me it was like, how much longer do I want to put on hold this thing I’ve been wanting to do for a while now?” Magtoto says. “People may think I’m crazy for leaving behind a corporate professional career I’ve been doing for 22 years, but you know what — it’s worth it.”

Magtoto will now have the chance to share her food at the Streat Feast Festival at The Forks to Sunday; the event brings together people from a variety of backgrounds to share their culture through food, art and performances.

Read
2:01 AM CDT