Lipetsk (a city in SW Russia), July 2, 2015
After the sentencing of two neo-Nazis who had killed two builders from Uzbekistan was pronounced, the criminals made a pogrom near the monastery and left fascist graffiti there, reports the Regnum news agency.
On the night of July 1, 2015, the lawbreakers made an attack on the holy well situated near the Dormition Monastery in the city of Lipetsk. According to representatives of the Lipetsk Diocese, the vandals threw down the cross above the font, burned down the wooden cabin for changing clothes along with about 20 icons.
The graffiti they left on the wall near the well indicate that the culprits belong to the neonazi circles: “Hello from NS WP 88”. The abbreviations “NS” and “WP” (National Socialism and White Power/Pride) are used by members of national-socialist groups, while the number “88” is a secret fascist greeting.
The local media at once attributed this attack to the sentence in the notorious criminal case: on June 30 two residents of Lipetsk (born in 1995 and 1997 respectively) were sentenced to 8 and 6.5 years imprisonment for murdering a citizen of Uzbekistan and attempted murder of three more people.
According to the Diocese of Lipetsk, the holy well of the Dormition Monastery became a target of vandals a long time ago. The parishioners said that a number of icons were broken over the past several months. This is already the third case of attacks on the well in two years: in 2013 unidentified delinquents smashed the crucifix and damaged icons, and in December 2014 they smashed the iconostasis and threw it into water. Parishioners themselves beautify the area around the well on their own initiative and at their own expense.
