Atheists tried to set an Orthodox church on fire in Kiev

10 June 2008, 14:19

Kiev, June 10, Interfax - The attempt to set on fire a wooden church in the Solomensky District of Kiev was taken in the end of the last week, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church press service reported on Tuesday.

The incident took place in the Pervomaisky Park. A crowd of people gathered there with protests against building the church complex of the canonical Ukrainian Church. Among the participants were elderly people and radical youth from various extremist groups of the Communist trend, totally about 30-40 people, the press service said.

The local community of believers also came to back up the building of the church. Their number exceeded the protestors by a third.

The atheists disputed with the believers and cried: "Aha, you are faithful, aren't you?" "Read Blok's poems, he proves - there's no God!" Fence of the building site was soon chocked with slogans: "Away with obscurantism!" "Churches, brothels, casino - out to the suburbs!" Young people also depicted hammers, sickles and five-pointed stars there.

"Then they suddenly ran out to the building site and started crushing it. They had petrol in big 6-liter bottles with them and poured it over to the wooden church and other wood and tried to set it on fire," a press service representative said.

Law enforcement agencies prevented the church complex from burning, though they had to call for a fire-brigade and about ten more police cars to oppose aggressive atheists.

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