Location: Kyiv, Velyka Vasylkivska St. (still referred to by many as Krasnoarmeyskaya - Red Army St.).
On the left: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the world's top Orthodox spiritual leader.
On the right: President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko.
Slogan: "Ukraine is heir to Kyivan Rus."
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P.S. Here's a related item, from Michelle Knisley of Greetings from Kyiv.
On Friday my plane landed at Borispol just minutes before Bartholomew arrived. The tarmac in front of the terminal was deserted, all the planes were sitting on adjacent tarmacs. The square on front the airport was lined with babushkas and that sort of people waving Ukrainian flags greeting the patriarch. But he was no where in site. However, the police allowed no vehicle was to leave the square. The place was a mess. Car parked on lawns between trees, people sitting on the ground everywhere. How someone could get to the airport--I have no idea. Finally, they let our airport bus leave, but the next post stopped us again and the driver decided to take a detour. That was a bad move, because instead of waiting for maybe another 20 minutes, we were crawling through half-destroyed field roads with hundreds of other desperate drivers. When we got onto a bigger road, it got even worse. There were 4 lanes of traffic on what was supposed to be just 2. No two adjacent lanes were moving in the same direction. It was a complete mess without a single policeman to help people out. At the same time, on the deserted Borispol highway, police officers were standing guard after every 50 meters. It took us an hour and a half to get to the metro stop at the edge of the city instead of the usual 20 minutes. I don't think it was very "European" and certainly, not very Christian. It was stupid ass licking and cross-kissing--all our authorities are worth of.
ReplyDeleteSasha
Neeka, thanks for the link. I found these posters around Kyiv very fascinating to look at for some reason. Orthodox Christianity here is so old, has such an incredible history and here is the leader next to the country's President. The photo itself makes an impact whatever the political/religious implications actually are....
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