New Delhi, March 22 -- who worked for decades to establish an independent Ukrainian Orthodox church that was free from Moscow's religious authority, a schism that foreshadowed the Russia-Ukraine war - died Friday. He was 97.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine announced his death, citing the "exacerbation of chronic diseases."

Filaret had a more limited role in recent years as the cultural and religious divide between Ukraine and Russia widened into full-scale warfare. But his legacy includes a long and partially successful effort to gain recognition of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox jurisdiction.

"The person and numerous good deeds of the late Patriarch Filaret rightfully occupy a special place in the modern history of both the local Uk...