The rally near the Kyiv’s Appeal Court building, February 5, 2018. Photo courtesy of the author.In late January, Kyiv’s police service received an distressing call – there had been arson attack at the Church of Tithes, located near the city’s landmark Andriyivsky descent. Two local architects, Oleksandr Gorban and Oleksiy Shemotyuk, were apprehended at the scene. They claimed that it wasn’t arson, but a protest aimed at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which owns the church.
Gorban and Shemotyuk’s action was not the first of its type: the Moscow Patriarchate’s decision to build the monastery in the very heart of Kyiv – on the grounds of the National History Museum – has created conflict between the Church and city residents for more than a decade.
A convenient miracle
The Church of the Tithes (Desyatynna tservka) is one of Ukraine’s most important historical and architectural monuments. Built in stone in 996 by Prince Vladimir the Great, who introduced Christianity to Kievan Rus’, it was burned down in the 13th century during the Mongol Invasion. Only the foundations survived, and it was here that the Orthodox Church attempted to establish a foothold in 2006. First, without any authorisation, they erected a tent surmounted by a cross in the museum grounds. The idea was for the priests to celebrate Easter there, but they somewhat overstayed their welcome.
