You're reading: Topless protester pursues Russia church leader

A bare-breasted feminist activist bearing a threatening message on her body tried to attack the Russian Orthodox Church's leader Thursday, July 26, to protest alleged anti-Ukrainian policies by the church and the Kremlin.

The
protester with the controversial Ukrainian women’s rights movement Femen
managed to get a meter (yard) within Patriarch Kirill at Kyiv’s
airport, but was stopped by a security guard and a priest.

The
woman, identified by Femen as Yana Zhdanova, had the words “Kill Kirill”
written on her back in large black letters and shouted a phrase from a
religious ritual that aims to expel demons, roughly translated as
“Kirill, go to hell.”

Police said the activist was being held at
the airport and will soon be taken to court, where she may face a fine
or several days in custody.

The commotion highlighted the tension between Moscow and Kyiv as Ukraine tries to move out of Russia’s shadow politically, economically and spiritually.

Ukraine’s
main Orthodox Church still answers to Kirill’s Moscow Patriarchate, and
two smaller but increasingly popular independent churches are not
recognized by world’s Orthodox leaders. But there is a growing movement
to create a strong, unified Ukrainian Orthodox church that would be
Moscow’s equal.

The incident also underlined the relative freedom
and democracy of Ukrainian society compared to Russia, where three
members of the feminist rock band Pussy Riot have spent months in prison
and face up to 7 years in jail for performing a “punk prayer” against
Russian President Vladimir Putin from a pulpit of Moscow’s main
cathedral.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church said it will not press charges against Zhdanova.

“The
girl has been shamed and lectured and I think this is quite enough,”
church spokesman Vasily Anisimov told The Associated Press. “If we put a
policeman next to every sin … what will our life become?”

Kirill did not react to the incident, proceeding to talk about his visit to a group of reporters. He is in Ukraine on an annual worshipping trip.

Femen
has gained prominence for staging topless protests against all kinds of
political and social problems — from the shortage of hot water to
women’s rights in the Muslim world to domestic pension reforms. But
critics say Femen members are more interested in self-promotion than
real reform, and that their antics are often tacky and undermine the
cause of their protests.