FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, Parliamentary Speaker Andriy Parubiy and newly elected head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox church Metropolitan Epifaniy (Dumenko) sing national anthem at the Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Monday accused Ukraine’s politicians of using the creation of a new Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow for political ends.

Ukraine chose the head of a new national Orthodox church on Saturday, marking a historic split from Russia which its leaders see as vital to the country’s security and independence.

“In Ukraine, these processes, this schism-creating activity is completely mixed up with politics, which of course is probably not allowed in church canon,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.