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So a persecuted state church equates to being legally abolished in your mind.

"State church"?!!! Not only Soviet Union had explicit separation of the church and state (it was in the constitution) but the atheism was the established state belief system. How ignorant can you be Mr. Solon?

Before WWII the atheistic policy got to the point of putting the rapid eradication of religion into the Five Year Plans. The symbol of this time was the explosion of the huge Orthodox Church - Cathedral of the Christ the Savior in Moscow (rebuilt at the great expense after the fall of Communism).

The only reason why some Orthodox churches were reopened later was the German invasion of WWII. The atheistic regime wanted desperately to motivate the Russian people to fight.

[...] "With the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on March 15, 1917 the Romanov dynasty ended. The interim provisional government lasted six months and was overthrown by the Bolshevik Revolution led by Vladimir Lenin.

This revolution was based on a complete restructuring of society according to the ideology of Karl Marx as supplemented and adapted by Lenin. This ideology known as Communism would remake all aspects of society in the former Russian Empire in line with the concept of class warfare in which the working classes led by the Communist Party would eventually triumph over the ruling classes worldwide leading to a classless, stateless society in which all needs of the people would be met.

An integral part of Communism predicated on the dialectical materialism of Marx and Engels was the notion that there is no reality except material reality. Thus, religion is a fiction, the opiate of the people, intended to restrain the aspirations of the toiling masses and to retain the old social order of the exploitation of the masses by the ruling elites. According to Marxism/Leninism religion would eventually disappear under constant pressure from the state which regarded religion as an obstruction to the creation of the perfect Communist society.

By 1931 the head of the Soviet state and of the Communist Party, Joseph Stalin, vicar of Satan, conceived a bold and symbolic plan against the Russian Orthodox Church. He would strike at Christ the Savior of Russia by destroying His temple on the banks of the Moscow River and replacing it with a new "temple" - a Palace of Soviets atop which would stand a colossal statue of Lenin. The height of the Palace and statue would exceed that of the Empire State Building in New York.

In 1931, after removing much of the interior decorations and art works, the temple was blown up and the site cleared for the proposed Palace. Several attempts to construct and to stabilize the foundations were frustrated by the slow movement thereof toward the Moscow River. The construction was abandoned and replaced by a public heated swimming pool in use for several decades.[...]"

See the full text and photos at CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE SAVIOR IN MOSCOW A RUSSIAN ALLEGORY