Seventh-day Adventists in west Russia are urging a full investigation into a fire that destroyed an Adventist Church building in Kovrov in the early morning hours of April 15.
Seventh-day Adventists in west Russia are urging a full investigation into a fire that destroyed an Adventist Church building in Kovrov in the early morning hours of April 15. Arsonists broke into the church and ignited a fire inside a gas oven, which then exploded. Witnesses say the wooden building, where more than 100 church members worshipped each week, was destroyed within minutes.
Valery Ivanov, Adventist communication director in Russia, calls the destruction of the church a hate crime and “a terrible loss for the local Adventists in Kovrov.” But Ivanov says those responsible for the fire do not speak for the average citizen in the city. “Adventists have done good things for this city,” he says, “and city officials have been good to us also.”
Unlike last year’s church burning in Belarus, church leaders do not suspect complicity on the part of city officials or law enforcement officers. Adventists in the region say they have long felt welcomed and accepted by the local people, and they have good relationships with the city mayor and regional governor. Annual evangelism meetings are “well-received,” say church members.
Church leaders are reluctant to speculate about who set the fire. The same church was damaged but not destroyed by a fire last September. Church members quickly repaired the church after the September fire, but this time the destruction is complete. Some people believe the church fire could have been the work of young nationalists known as skinheads. Russia has endured a wave of violent hate crimes this April, the month of Hitler’s birthday. Across the country, an Afghan translator has been murdered, a synagogue vandalized, and countless young men have been beaten. Foreigners and people with dark skin are most at risk for attack, but even Slavic Russians have been victims in some cases.
Andrei Dyman, Global Mission director for the Adventist Church in west Russia, says that despite the financial loss, he is sure the Kovrov church members will find a way to rebuild their church, whether on the same site or somewhere else.