Yekaterinburg dismantles perimeter at controversial construction site ahead of citywide poll
Natalia Chernokhatova / URA.RU / TASS On the morning of May 21, crews in Yekaterinburg started dismantling a wall that went up a week earlier around the construction site for a new cathedral in one of the city's few remaining public parks. The wall was erected after protesters repeatedly toppled the original perimeter: a chain-link fence. After nearly a week of demonstrations that attracted national news attention, at the suggestion of President Putin, local officials decided to conduct a citywide survey to determine the construction site's future. In the meantime, the city's diocese asked workers to remove the wall around the site, “for the sake of peace and harmony in the city.”
