Unidentified torched in the night of Monday the temple in honor of saints Cyril and Methodius in Pavlograd Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine, said the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The attackers threw in 3 bottles of " Molotov cocktail ", causing the Church great harm. The incident happened around 02. 00 local time, reports RIA " Novosti ".
As noted by the rector of the Church Archpriest Andrey Demidas, in the end, the fire completely burnt the choir with prayer books also were severely damaged the Central part of the Church, damaged Church frescoes, icons, Windows, heating system and items of Church life. At the same time, As said the priest, "miraculously survived the altar" ? go to the throne of the Molotov cocktails fell fuse. In fact the incident initiated criminal proceedings. As recalled in the UOC in September in the Kiev region was destroyed the unfinished building of an Orthodox Church, and in April of this year, unidentified made an arson of the Kiev Church of the UOC-MP. Remember, in Ukraine there is a canonical UOC-MP, which is a self-governing Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, and unrecognized by the world Orthodox Church structures ? of the UOC-KP and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). While the UOC-MP and the first of many times reported instances of harassment of priests and seizures of the Orthodox churches representatives of the UOC-KP. Head of legal Department of the UOC-MP Alexander Bach said that the unrecognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) for 2014-2016 captured 40 churches of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate, While seizures are often facilitated by local authorities.

sections: Politics