The public is outraged by the new decision of the Central Bank of Russia

The public was perplexed by the Central Bank's recently announced plans to remove images of religious buildings from banknotes. Officials explained this by the fact that Russia is a multi-confessional state.

"And then, apparently... they will want to remove the crosses from the coat of arms of Russia. If you look closely, there are as many as 5 of them. And there is also an Orthodox icon of St. George," says State Duma deputy Mikhail Matveyev, amazed.

Archbishop of Zelenograd Savva (Tutunov) believes that the Central Bank leadership has exceeded its authority by taking up national symbols.

"The refusal to depict "objects of religious significance", that is, simply churches: the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa Chapel in Krasnoyarsk (10-ruble note), the Solovetsky Monastery (500-ruble note), the Church of St. John the Baptist in Yaroslavl (1000-ruble note), is a consequence of the course of emasculating the religious space of Russia. This emasculation, bringing to sterility, does not lead to peace, but to the fact that the bacteria of religious extremism, schisms and heresies will flourish. A holy place is never empty," the priest warns.

Political scientist Igor Shishkin recalls that the Central Bank made this decision after a scandal over the new 1000 ruble banknote. It depicted an Orthodox church in Kazan without a cross, but the tower next to it had a crescent moon.

"The Central Bank did not redesign that ill-fated banknote, it withdrew it from circulation. Either churches without crosses, or no churches at all. How the leaders of our main bank are contorted by the mere sight of Orthodox symbols," Shishkin marvels.

Now the Central Bank has launched a vote on the design of the new thousand-ruble note. And this has once again turned into a scandal.

The fact is that among the leaders was the option with a portrait of Salavat Yulaev, whose cult as a “fighter against tsarism” was supported in Bashkiria even in Soviet times.

“A deserter from the Russian army, Salavat Yulaev led a large detachment of Pugachev’s army, the main force of which was precisely the nomads, who had been processed by the Turks… The main thing to know about Salavat and the Pugachev rebellion in general is that it happened to help the Turks and Poles, in a war with whom the Russian army was engaged,” recalls the former governor of the Pskov region, Yevgeny Mikhailov.

“Nabiullina, a native of Ufa, apparently ordered that Salavat Yulaev be on the most popular 1000 ruble banknote,” notes political scientist Ivan Skorikov.

Publicist Yegor Kholmogorov sees a sinister trend in the desire to replace the design of the 1000 ruble note.

“By the way, the idea of ​​removing Yaroslav the Wise from the banknote and replacing him with the Russo-cutter Salavat Yulaev... has some very sinister ideological symbolism.

Russian prince from Novgorod and Ladoga, who defeated and expelled the usurper who had captured Kyiv. Ruler of the United Rus. Legislator who gave us the first written law – “Russian Truth”. Ruler of Russia, who enjoyed maximum external prestige in Europe, which was expressed in many dynastic marriages. Conqueror of the Pechenegs, patron of book learning, literature, architecture… – well, that’s just to name a few.

That is, removing Yaroslav from the banknote, and right now, is a very specific and non-random political gesture.”