Other Russian Cities Following Yekaterinburg in Protesting Church Construction Plans

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 17 – Russians have been transfixed by the four days of protest by Yekaterinburg residents against the possible construction of a cathedral in a park in the center of their city, protests that the authorities have tried to crush and that even Vladimir Putin has had to weigh in by promising to survey opinion about the plans and follow the majority’s opinion.

            But there is growing evidence that the protests in the Urals city have become a model of residents of other cities across the country who are also going into the streets to challenge the plans of the Russian Orthodox Church and its allies among local officialdom to build churches on park land.

            Given that protests about one thing often grow into protests about others as participants come to feel that such actions can be effective, this spread of demonstrations about church construction could easily become, together with protests against plans for disposing Moscow’s trash in the regions, the basis for a new wave of demonstrations against the government.

            The Znak news agency provides a guide to the protests which have already occurred and suggests that more are on the way, as people in one place see that those in another have been willing to take to the streets and even for the powers that be to back down (znak.com/2019-05-17/vsled_za_ekaterinburgom_antiklerikalnye_protesty_ohvatili_drugie_goroda_rossii).

            Residents of Nizhny Novgorod have also begun protests against plans by the church and local government to build a church in the middle of a public square. They carried signs like “The church is taking squares throughout the country” and “squares for the people! The ROC can go to hell!” (kommersant.ru/doc/3968868).

            Nizhny residents are especially upset about these plans because there are already 14 typically empty churches in the same neighborhood. When public hearings were held about building a new church, some supporters sang hymns, but opponents responded by singing “The International.”

            Chelyabinsk residents too have taken courage from the events in Yekaterinburg. Earlier, they felt they could not block plans for a church in front of the South Urals Stat University; but now they are protesting, with appeals to the mayor asking “Do you want things to be like in Yekaterinburg?” (znak.com/2019-05-17/hotite_kak_v_ekaterinburge_aktivisty_chelyabinska_snova_podnyali_vopros_o_chasovne_yuurgu).

            Residents of Ulyanovsk too are now protesting plans to build a church in a park there, something activists say would require the destruction of 50 trees that they argue must be saved.  At the very least, they demand the preparation of an environmental impact statement, something the church thought unnecessary (73online.ru/r/v_ulyanovske_nazrevaet_cerkovnyy_protest-68252).

            And people are protesting against not only church construction plans. In Ulan-Ude, they oppose building a patriotic center in the main park of the city (tayga.info/146503). And in Lyublino in Moscow, they have begun demonstrating against building more high-rise apartments  on park land as well, Znak reports. 

            Perhaps the most important aspect of this development is that protesters in one place aren’t following the lead of others by going on line as the Kremlin may suspect but rather by sending representatives of their city to Yekaterinburg to show support and learn what can be done in the streets to oppose those in power.

            In Yekaterinburg over the last few days, Ignat Bakin of Znak reports, people from St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Orenburg, Perm and other oblast centers have arrived. Presumably, they will return home with plans to take action “like in Yekaterinburg” as well.