The Ministry of Internal Affairs began a census of icons of Orthodox churches

On April 16, it was announced that the Ministry of Internal Affairs had begun a census of icons in Russian Orthodox churches. According to Igor Ogurtsov, a representative of the Main Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the Ministry, icons in the churches of dioceses on the territory of the Golden Ring, in the North-West of Russia and in the Volga region will be rewritten first.

One of the main tasks of the census is to help in the operational search for icons in case of their theft, the number of which is growing every year. Thus, according to the ministry, in 2002, 194 thefts and robberies were committed in Russian Orthodox churches, and a total of 34,000 icons are on the wanted list.

On October 27, 2004, Alexander Gorbatov, head of the press service of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, announced the start of a census of icons and church valuables in the region's churches.

Sources

• At the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a census of icons began in Orthodox churches in Russia // Week. 2003. 16 April.
• In the temples of the Nizhny Novgorod region will mark all the icons // Week.ru. 2004. October 27.