A priest in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region has condemned attempts by the municipal authorities to demolish his church in a statement posted on his parish website.
Local officials apparently petitioned the city court for permission to demolish the church in April, arguing it had been built illegally on land allocated for housing and that it was a crime scene, referring to Archbishop Viktor Pivovarov’s anti-war sermons and articles, and even citing an interview he gave to Novaya Gazeta Europe as evidence.
Pivovarov, who has repeatedly criticised the war in Ukraine in his sermons and called Vladimir Putin’s ideology “delusional” and “imposed by the devil”, rejected the accusations made by the authorities, calling them “ridiculous and godless”.