Moscow, October 5, 2012
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| Крест, спиленный у храма святителя Николая. 4 октября 2012 г. |
The crime was committed at night, before the Divine Liturgy on the day of the leavetaking of the Exaltation of the Cross. A cross was sawed off near the altar apse of the Church of St. Nicholas in Pokrovskoe in Moscow. This cross was assembled in 1992; it was installed on the roof of the temple that was being restored at the time. In 1995 it was installed on the graveyard of the remains buried at the former cemetery near the church. These remains were collected during the reconstruction efforts.
On the same night an offensive writing appeared on the altar part of the nearby Church of the Holy Virgin in the village of Rubtsovo (83 Bakuninskaya st.).
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Pokrovskoe is known since XVI century. The Temple of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in the village Rubtsovo was built in the early XVII century in the memory of the expulsion of the Poles. On July 3 2009, by the decree of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia the Patriarchal Ancient Liturgical Tradition Center was established on the church premises.
