The Slavyansk City Court of the Krasnodar Territory rejected the claim of the administration of Slavyansk-on-Kuban against the rector of the Holy Intercession and Tikhon Church, Viktor Pivovarov. The publication “7×7” drew attention to the court’s decision.
The administration of Slavyansk-on-Kuban demanded that the temple be demolished, calling it an unauthorized construction. Pivovarov provided a construction permit, and the court found that the temple was erected legally, the press service of the Krasnodar courts told 7×7.
The city authorities filed a lawsuit against Pivovarov because of the representation of the Slavyansky Interdistrict Investigation Department. It said that during a search in a criminal case about “discrediting” the army, investigators established that the territory where the temple stands can only be used for individual housing construction.
“In fact, it is a public place with a large number of visitors, where a crime is repeatedly committed against the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation,” the security forces said.
86-year-old Viktor Pivovarov is a figure of non-canonical Orthodoxy, Archbishop of South Russian and Slavic Russian Orthodox Church (RosOC). Criminal case o “discredit” of the armywas initiated against him because of the text “An answer to the question that worries everyone today: what is this war?” In April 2024, the court sentenced the priest to a fine of 150 thousand rubles.
In March, Pivovarov was fined 40 thousand rubles under administrative protocol on “discredit” because of the wire. A denunciation against the archbishop was written by a parishioner who had not previously visited the church. “He runs out and says as he goes: your sermon is political, and big problems await you,” the priest recalled.