Hello!

This is Svetlana Bronnikova, a journalist with the independent media outlet 7x7.

Russian authorities are promoting the war in Ukraine not only through mass media but also through religion. By 2026, at least 29 chapels and churches dedicated to the war in Ukraine have appeared across Russian regions. Of these, 13 have been completed, while the rest are at various stages of construction.

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How residents protest the construction of "warrior-temples"

Russians are speaking out against the construction of "warrior-temples" — religious structures dedicated to the war in Ukraine — primarily because they do not want to lose their green spaces. One of the most prominent cases of resistance occurred in Krasnodar. 

Residents discovered that authorities plan to build the tallest temple in honor of participants in the war with Ukraine on the city's waterfront. The church will reach a height of 70 meters, with the total construction area covering 1.2 hectares. Its icons will be dedicated to military glory and religious motifs centered on the Mother of God aiding the army in battle. The site of the future complex currently houses a river access point, a square with rare trees, and an unfortified embankment.

Back in 2019, local authorities promised to landscape the embankment and create a park along it. However, in 2024, the authorities presented a new general plan for Krasnodar, in which the section of the alley on the embankment was rezoned for religious construction.

Krasnodar residents submitted 8,000 formal complaints regarding the general plan, including pleas to preserve the green zone, but the city administration rejected them. 

In October 2024, residents collected 3,000 signatures and recorded a video appeal to Putin, Kuban Governor Veniamin Kondratyev, and Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin, asking them not to build over the embankment. Krasnodar Mayor Yevgeny Naumov attempted to calm the public by promising that the previously pledged park would be created on the land surrounding the temple.

In their fight against the development, activists planted a tree with a plaque: "The Guardian Oak, planted by the residents of the Yubileyny micro-district in the hope of preserving the park promised by the leaders of the Krasnodar Krai." Three times, unidentified individuals ripped the oak from the ground; three times, citizens replanted it (after the third time, they had to buy a new sapling). In April 2026, someone snapped the tree's trunk. Activists filed a police report, but officers had previously refused to open a criminal case, citing the "insignificant" financial damage and the impossibility of identifying the perpetrator.

The project for the Cathedral Complex of the Most Holy Mother of God itself surfaced in November 2024, but authorities kept quiet about it for nearly a year. This silence was linked to the gubernatorial elections in September 2025: public discontent over the construction could have triggered a protest vote and prevented Veniamin Kondratyev from being re-elected for a third term.

During a public discussion on the temple project, 80% of participants (1,400 people) opposed the Cathedral Complex on the embankment. One resident stood outside the regional administration building with a placard: "I am against building over the coastal green zone in Yubileyny!"

The protests did not change the authorities' decision. In response, activists accused Mayor Yevgeny Naumov of "splitting society on religious grounds" and began collecting signatures for his resignation.

The residents of Krasnodar do not plan to give up. They intend to defend their right to the green zone until the very end.

"We plan to fight right up until the bulldozers arrive, roughly speaking. So that later on, my conscience is clear knowing I truly did everything I could," Ivan, a Krasnodar resident, told the local outlet 59.ru.

Why authorities are erecting temples dedicated to the war in Ukraine

The construction of temples dedicated to the war in Ukraine is a dangerous trend. Ksenia Eggert, a specialist in canon law, emphasizes: "Warrior-temples are becoming a tool of pressure. When religion merges with military propaganda, the space of the temple itself ceases to be a place of solitude and prayer, turning into an ideological object."

This creates an enormous risk for the Church itself. Instead of uniting people, such projects fracture society. In Krasnodar, the situation escalated to the point where residents began demanding the mayor’s resignation, accusing him of sowing religious discord. When a "holy name" is used to take a park away from children, it triggers deep resentment even among those who consider themselves believers.

On the other hand, linking a temple to the war helps local officials and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church defend the project's construction before both residents and federal authorities.

Authorities have also begun labeling opponents of temple construction as traitors to Russia. In Krasnodar, Sergey Klimov, a city duma deputy from the "New People" party, used his Telegram channel to call activists opposing the temple "traitorous scum" and accused them of "undermining stability in the country." Klimov later deleted the post. Boris Korchevnikov, CEO of the Orthodox TV channel SPAS, wrote on his Telegram that the protesters were either employees of Ukrainian special services or "those led by them."

Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russians had opportunities to defend green zones and stop temple construction within them. The most striking example was Yekaterinburg in 2019, where thousands of citizens protested the construction of a church in a downtown square. Ultimately, the authorities chose a different location for the project.

According to Ksenia Eggert, before the war began, officials were willing to make concessions on issues that did not directly touch upon politics — such as culture, religion, or business. However, in 2026, any concession is viewed as a sign of weakness by the authorities. Consequently, there is little hope that Russians will be able to successfully defend their green zones today.