Nine Hurt In Ukraine Church Bombing

Ukrainian security forces say a homemade bomb has exploded in a church in Ukraine, wounding nine people on the last day of a controversial visit to the country by Russia's Orthdox Patriarch Kirill.

Ukrainian security services SBU spokeswoman Marina Ostapenko said the blast occurred at a church in the southeastern city of Zaporijia.

A police statement said the blast did not cause major damage to the church.

A church official told a local news website that a parcel bomb was to blame.

The building belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is under the Russian patriarchate in Moscow.

The church operates in Ukraine alongside dissident Orthodox confessions, with which it has tense relations.

compiled from agency reports