As Russia Strikes Ukraine, a Cultural Symbol Catches Fire

More than 80 years after Ukraine’s Dormition Cathedral was razed to its foundation during World War II, the reconstructed holy site was again engulfed in flames on Monday. The cathedral, a popular Christian pilgrimage destination, was struck when a wave of Russian attacks across multiple cities killed 11 people and injured dozens more, the Ukrainian government said. Two drones also struck the historic monastic complex in Kyiv that is home to the cathedral, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a post on social media. Videos verified by The New York Times show fire crew members on tall cranes, spraying water through windows glowing orange against the cathedral’s white exterior.

The video of Christianity burning under NeoSoviet Russian bombs… “Russia bombards Kyiv, sets fire to famed cathedral” https://youtu.be/M2rCDh-zjdM?is=GH-rnq-Fql8UEyra

Putin continues his fanatic quest against Christianity.

Not only is he in bed with Islamic Iran and helped it target US assets during the war with Iran, but since 4 years he has also proactively brought in armed Islamic Chechen troops onto European soil ordering them to attack Christian Ukraine.

He’s caput Africa Corps troops in Mali have lost all ground, conveniently letting the Islamic rebel group there take over nearly the whole place.

With Kremlin’s approval - Hundreds of thousands praying Islamists blocking the streets of Moscow. https://youtube.com/shorts/HLlgbaF0G48?is=NwrfmAxml0Fp6V0U

So yes, Putin is the most pro-Islamic Russian leader in Russia’s entire history. He shows it in a very spectacular demonstrative undeniable way.

The video of Christianity burning under NeoSoviet Russian bombs… “Russia bombards Kyiv, sets fire to famed cathedral”
https://youtu.be/M2rCDh-zjdM?is=GH-rnq-Fql8UEyra

Putin continues his fanatic quest against Christianity.

He’s caput Africa Corps troops in Mali have lost all ground, conveniently letting the Islamic rebel group there take over nearly the whole place.

With Kremlin’s approval - Hundreds of thousands praying Islamists blocking the streets of Moscow.
https://youtube.com/shorts/HLlgbaF0G48?is=NwrfmAxml0Fp6V0U

So yes, Putin is the most pro-Islamic Russian leader in Russia’s entire history. He shows it in a very spectacular demonstrative undeniable way.

kiryandil: "Sounds like a Zelensky "false flag"..."

Russian propaganda media claims Ukraine's St. Stephen’s chapel of the Dormition Cathedral was hit by falling debris from a defective US Patriot missile, but there's no evidence to support that.

The actual evidence was found at the point of impact on the church and the nearby museum -- Russian made Geran-2/Shahed-type drone wreckage.
Two Russian made drones.

Of course, you can choose to believe Russian propaganda rather than physical evidence, but why would any sane person do that?

Russian drone wreckage recovered at points of impact:

Celtic Conservative: "Christianity in Russia is more of a cultural thing than truly spiritual.
Church attendance is roughly 5-15%."

Russian Orthodox Church:

Right.
The USSR was officially atheist for over 70 years.
Today some 63% of Russians claim to be Christians, but your 5-15% as "church attendance" is overly generous, even on major holidays like Easter.
2% is a more realistic number.

The US, sadly, has fallen from ~90% identifying as Christian as recently as 1970, with 70% regular church attendance, to today's 70% Christians and only 40% church attendance.

This is not the first time American interest in religion has declined:

Early 1700s -- church membership was notably less, as low as 10% by mid-century.
Early 1800s -- Great Awakenings increased membership to ~80% by 1850.
By 1890 church membership had again fallen to around 25%.
20th century Americans identifying as Christians rose to a peak around 90% around 1970, with church membership at 75%, and remained high until the early 2000s.
Since 2000, US church membership has fallen to barely 60%, though still around 70% of Americans identify as Christians.
Since 2023, there are reports of increasing interest and church attendance, especially by younger men, not just post-Covid returns but also a revival of spirits.
As of now these are, at best, the first sprouts of a new spring, not yet a long-term trend.

Bottom line: Russians are now rising from a very low base of 70+ years of official atheism, yet nothing I've seen suggests something like the American Great Awakenings in Russia, or the US 20th century increases in religious devotions.
The Russian Orthodox Church is also a strange hybrid of religious and commercial enterprise, with 55% of its income generated by sales of manufactured & service products.

2024 US Christian Revival:

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