The Christmas liturgies in Russia on Wednesday, January 7, were attended by about 2,6 million people, or 1,7 percent of the country's citizens, the Religious Information Agency (VIA) reports today.
According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, liturgies were celebrated in 8.500 Orthodox churches throughout Russia.
About 55.000 members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and several thousand members of private security organizations, volunteers and Cossack bands took care of order, security and prevention of provocations or terrorist acts in and around the place of worship.
For years now, on Christmas and Easter, the Russian police have been using special devices to count the believers who enter the church, and they also perform detector checks to prevent weapons from being brought in.
Police General Yuri Demidov announced that there were no incidents during the past holidays.
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