Moscow police won't add orthodox militia to patrols

Ivan Otrakovsky, left, and his Orthodox guards Photo: avmalgin.livejournal.com

Moscow police have called declarations that voluntary orthodox militia would patrol Moscow streets together with policemen to be "premature." The declaration was made by the head of the Orthodox movement "Holy Russ" Ivan Otrakovsky.
"We haven't worked on this issue in the Ministry of the Interior. It is premature to talk about any kind of joint work," – a source in the Ministry of the Interior told Interfax.
The head of the department of the regional security in the Moscow government, Alexai Mayorov, said he was against joint patrols with orthodox militias.
"I think this is the wrong approach. This breaks society apart, we have a multi-denominational nation. This looks like some kind of private initiative. We already have a normal practice of voluntary militias in Moscow, they form on a territorial principle. It has been rather effective, and we will develop this further," Mayorov said.
Earlier on Wednesday Otrakovsky told Interfax that the voluntary Orthodox militias start to patrol Moscow and the region, and that they would coordinate their actions with police.
"If we find persons who are performing a sacrilege, offend the Orthodox faith, or show aggression towards Orthodox priests, we reserve the right to take measures," Otrakovsky said.
"We keep in mind that we are orthodox people, and this is our land, we own it and we answer for it. <…> We cannot observe calmly how our faith is trampled upon, followed by cowardly silence or even cheers of traitors, Christ's apostates." Otrakovsky added.
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