Russia’s Donbas proxy ‘republic’ seizes Ukrainian Orthodox Church for the Moscow Patriarchate
LPR and DPR declared independence nine years ago. They have been recognized by the Russian Federation and annexed upon request. They are a bit beyond being called proxy republics, or a singular proxy republic.
In any case, it is not entirely clear who or what is taking the church. It reads as if it may be done by the mayor of a village in DPR.
The Donetsk – Mariupol Eparchy reported on 25 April that the so-called ‘DPR enforcement agency’ had put pressure on the Mayor of the village of Kuznetsovo-Mykhailivka to appropriate the church.
If the church created in Ukraine in 2019 is gobbling up orthodox churches in Ukraine affiliated with the Russian patriarchy, they might expect something similar to happen to them in Russia, and LPR and DPR are now part of the Russian Federation.
The folks in the area have been fighting for about a millenium or two, and this is the crap that happens. If Ukraine ever regains control of that area, the churches would probably all change again. When politics fail, the military sorts out the problems.