Russians have become accustomed to having their civil rights trampled on by those who are supposed to protect them, the representatives of the authorities. However, what happened yesterday in Ekaterinburg was perhaps the first outrageous case when the Russian Orthodox Church, acting as an arbitrary power, not spiritual but purely secular, put them in their place with kicks and punches.
The reason for this demonstration was the protest of the city residents against the construction of the Orthodox Church of St. Catherine in a popular recreational area — a park near the Drama Theater. The decision to build the church was made without broad public discussion and was pushed through by the Russian Orthodox Church and the sponsor of the construction, the Russian Copper Company (RCC). When people found out that their usual place had already been fenced off for the construction, they came to prevent it. But they were met by such people.
When asked by the citizens about their intentions, they clearly stated that they had come to «defend the faith» from «Navalny’s hired thugs». So who are these mysterious «defenders of the Orthodox faith» with a sporty appearance? As it turns out, they are members of the Martial Arts Academy, created and financed by the same RCC that sponsored the church construction. The «academy» itself is actually an organization that brings together fighters of various styles, employed by this company, to train and perform in a 6-story building with rings, wrestling platforms, gymnasiums, MMA cages, and spectator halls. All of this is funded by the RCC.
At night, the «academics,» chanting «We are for the church,» began to disperse the protesting citizens. The forces were unequal and the people had to retreat. Nevertheless, the residents announced that they would come to another protest rally today. Meanwhile, the local authorities, under whose complete indulgence the quasi-criminal elements run rampant in the city, called for a dialogue between the «defenders of the church» and the opponents of its construction.
For its part, the Ekaterinburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, instead of calling for reconciliation, called on the local Orthodox faithful to mobilize for actions in support of the construction of the church. So we have before us an amalgamation of clerics who support and are financed by oligarchs, using their private army to enforce order in a city that has traditionally been considered one of the most civilized and European in Russia.
It would be very interesting to hear whether those who claim that the savagery and barbarism in Russia originates in the Caucasus, where its laws do not apply, will continue to play their tune, assuming that they do apply in its «Russian» part.