Duma deputy says ancestors of Jews cooked Christians in cauldrons

State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov said that “the ancestors of [St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly deputies] Boris Vishnevsky and Maxim Reznik boiled Christians in cauldrons and gave them to beasts [to be] mauled.” Despite this, Christians managed to survive, noted Milonov.

Milonov made his statement following a sacred procession near St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Milonov is in favor of transferring control of the cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church, while Vishnevsky and Resnik are against it.

On January 23, former presenter on Russia’s pro-Kremlin television channel Pervy Kannal and vice-speaker of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy criticized protesters speaking out against the transfer of St. Petersburg’s St. Isaac’s Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. He said: “Observing the protests surrounding the transfer of St. Isaac’s Cathedral, I cannot help but notice the amazing paradox: people who are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who destroyed our churches, [of those] who jumped out of the Pale of Settlement with revolvers in 1917, now their grandchildren, working in various very respectable places – on radio stations, in legislative assemblies – continue the work of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.”

Tolstoy’s statement was perceived by many as anti-Semitic and the deputy was criticized by Russia’s Federation of Jewish Communities. He later said that he regretted his words.

On January 10, St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko said that St. Isaac’s Cathedral would be transferred to the Orthodox Church. St. Petersburg residents took to the streets. Duma deputies Milonov and Tolstoy supported Poltavchenko’s decision.