So who should dismantle the cross on B.Khmelnytsky Square? (Documents)

The cross arbitrarily set on Bohdan Khmelnytsky Square (in the green area in front of the hotel "Uzhgorod") should be dismantled by… the community.

Such is the answer of the authorities to the appeal to the city council.

Recently nearly one hundred residents of the neighbourhood signed and sent the appeal in which people protested against the plans to build a temple on the square. Also, they asked the city government if they had given any approvals for the installation of a monument, a church or a memorial. The Acting Mayor Victor Shchadey explained in the response letter – nobody had applied to the city council for the permission. And it is illegally installed on the site, which is still rented by the "Maidan-Uzhgorod". And he said that the cross should be dismantled by the community.

The person, who prepared the appeal – public activist Marianna Sobran – is however perplexed by the position of the city government, stressing that the dismantling of the illegally set cross should be carried out by the city services. They also sent an appeal to the prosecutor’s office. However, the office forwarded it to the municipality.

Recall that the cross on Bohdan Khmelnytsky square was installed by Bishop Kyryl, a representative of the Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, "as a sign that a memorial church in honor of Heaven’s Hundred will be built here." 

However, the community protested, because the intention to build a church on the green belt is not supported by any permits.

Thus, it is in fact an illegal takeover of the land for a church under the guise of seemingly noble purpose.