Ordinary temple

The mayor of Krasnodar nevertheless signed a decree on the construction of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which residents are protesting against

The mayor of Krasnodar, Evgeny Naumov, signed a resolution on the planning and surveying of the territory on Rozhdestvenskaya embankment in the Yubileiny district of the city, where the authorities intend to build a huge temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and residents are protesting against the construction.

The resolution appeared on the website of the Krasnodar administration. Having opened it on the morning of January 15, thousands of Krasnodar residents realized that their attempt to protect the embankment from development had failed.

For the first time, the city authorities started talking about the intention to build the embankment in the Yubileiny district of Krasnodar with a temple in 2021. At the same time, the first collection of signatures against construction took place and single pickets began. Geographically, the Yubileiny district of Krasnodar is a peninsula. It is surrounded on three sides by the Kuban River and almost entirely built up with high-rise buildings. This is an old residential area. There is no cinema, no House of Culture, there are not enough schools, but a temple and a chapel have already been built. The embankment, which authorities intend to develop with another temple, is the last major green area in the area. All other green areas were previously developed.

Now at the site of the proposed construction of the temple there is a New Year tree. In the evenings, families with children gather there.

Ten years ago, the Renova company of oligarch Viktor Vekselberg planned to build up the embankment in Yubileiny with high-rise buildings, but then residents managed to defend it from development. In 2019, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev solemnly opened a park on the embankment named after the 80th anniversary of the formation of the Krasnodar Territory. 165 million rubles were spent from the budget on the improvement of the square.

But in 2024, Governor Kondratyev himself categorically spoke out in favor of transferring the territory of the park for the construction of a temple and called the citizens who signed an appeal to him against the construction obscurantists.

About three and a half thousand signatures were collected in an appeal to the governor against the construction of the embankment by the temple.

Last year, the protest activity of Yubileiny residents, caused by their reluctance to lose the walking area, grew.

In the fall, single pickets against embankment development took place almost every day.

Notifications about holding a rally were submitted to the city administration three times, but the rally in Yubileiny was not approved.

In October last year, the Krasnodar administration organized public discussions on the construction of the temple. About two thousand Krasnodar residents took part in them, 90% of them spoke out against the construction, but the city administration did not take into account one and a half thousand objections.

Residents of Yubileiny recorded mass appeals to Mayor Evgeny Naumov and Governor Veniamin Kondratyev, asking not to build up the embankment.

During a direct line in December 2025, Veniamin Kondratyev, with his characteristic categoricalness, stated that “there will be a temple in Yubileiny,” and promised to dedicate it to the participants of the North Military District, publicly mentioning for the first time that the church on the embankment would be built at their request.

Opponents of the embankment development considered these words of the governor to be an attempt at manipulation.

On December 14, a recording of the appeal of the residents of Yubileiny to Vladimir Putin took place. According to various estimates, from 600 to 1000 people took part in it. Residents of Yubileiny asked the president to intervene in what was happening and prevent the development of the embankment, as they want to preserve it as a recreation area for themselves and their children. During the appeal, people chanted: “Putin, help! Jubilee is against development!”

Putin hasn't helped yet.

Andrey Romanov, Krasnodar