RESIDENTS OF YASENEVO DISTRICT TAKE STAND AGAINST CONSTRUCTION OF CHURCH
They maintain that construction of any buildings on the natural territory between Tarusskaia and Yasnogorskaia Streets is illegal.
An activist of the Yasenevo district, Elena Lokteva, described for radio station Govorit Moskva details of this struggle. "A raider's seizure of natural territories for general use is underway for the construction of a church. This is the Yasenevo district, Belopolsky Boulevard (formerly Boulevard 85), between Tarusskaia and Yasnogorskaia Streets and also Novoyasenevsk Prospect and Golubin Street. In addition, there is a ban on construction on the part of geology where the sealed stream Bitsy runs and it is impossible to build there because the soil floats," Lokteva notes.
She says that supporters of construction of a church on this site do not have any permits. "The parishioners who collected signatures for construction arrived several days ago in order to place their cross on this boulevard. Residents came running, prevented the installation, and called the police. When they began to examine, they did not have any kind of permission other than the collection of signatures," Lokteva said.
In response, yesterday believers conducted a procession of the cross and a prayer service on the boulevard. "Yesterday they came here in two large columns from churches and they held a prayer service here, but they did not set up anything and they left. I called the district council and gave the secretary all the information with requests to intervene in this affair. The police also were called and they reacted very calmly to this, saying that the procession was permitted," Lokteva added.
Local activists emphasize that they are acting not against the church building itself but against any construction in this zone. "We are for observing the law and we demand that everyone be equal before the law," Lokteva declared.
A similar situation developed in the northeastern administrative district of Moscow. Residents of the Losiny Island district have been standing guard round-the-clock since 18 June, blocking the approach of any equipment. In their opinion, those who are building a church there are trying to build illegally. (tr. by PDS, posted 17 July 2015)
ACTIVISTS STRETCH A BANNER ON GREAT MOSCOW RIVER BRIDGE AGAINST CONSTRUCTION OF CHURCH IN TORFYANKA
Muscovites taking a stand against construction of a church in the Torfyanka Park conducted an unsanctioned protest on Great Moscow River bridge, Filipp Kireev, a blogger and photographer, writes.
They stretched out a banner with the inscription "Putin, Save Torfyanka" on the railings of the bridge. Almost immediately this was noticed by a guard, whose post is located under the bridge. While he was climbing onto the bridge, the activists managed to roll up the banner and escape.
The protest lasted no more than a minute. According to Kireev's information, residents of buildings in the neighborhood of the Torfyanka Park participated in it. The blogger notes that the banner was hung for some reason on the east side of the bridge, that is, it was not aimed in the direction of the Kremlin.
The conflict between residents of the Losiny Island district and the authorities broke out in the middle of June. City residents have taken a stand against the construction of a church in Torfyanka Park. This initiative was made in 2013 by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobianin. He signed an order to change the borders of the park and to allocate a part of its territory for construction of a church complex within the framework of the "200 Churches" program.
In April 2015, a Moscow city court ruled that public hearings regarding construction of a church were conducted with violations, and it returned the case to the court for review. A date for new public hearings has still not been set, but on 18 June construction equipment entered Torfyanka Park. On that day a tent camp was raised on the construction territory, with residents who opposed the church in the park. In order to oppose them, Orthodox volunteers, cossacks, and the so-called Orthodox "Forty Forties" movement appeared on the site.
Since that time, a confrontation between supporters and opponents of construction of the church has continued. Recently, one of the activists opposing construction of the church was beaten in the park. Exactly a week ago, a rally by opponents of construction in the park was held in Torfyanka with the consent of authorities.
A Yod correspondent spent a night in the epicenter of the events and investigated who is acting and for what and why the conflict has not ceased, despite the absence of any work on the location of potential construction. (tr. by PDS, posted 17 July 2015)
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