People wave sparklers as they celebrate the New Year on Red Square in Moscow (Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF, 1 January 2015
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Fireworks explode over St Basil Cathedral on Red Square, Moscow
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New Year light show at Palace Square in St Petersburg (Federal City of St Petersburg. Northwestern Federal District) RF
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Festive illuminations on Palace Square in St Petersburg
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New Year fireworks at the Central Square in Vladivostok (Primorsky Krai. Far Eastern Federal District)
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Festive illuminations in Vladivostok
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New Year celebrations at the Central Square in Vladivostok
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Fireworks in Vladivostok
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New Year’s Eve in an apartment in Rostov-na-Donu (Rostov Oblast. Southern Federal District) RF
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Local resident on New Year’s Eve in Rostov-na-Donu
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Ice town in Kemerovo (Kemerovo Oblast. Siberian Federal District) RF
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1 January 2015
ITAR-TASS
Voices from Russia 
Jesus Christ Superstar Dropped in Russia Church Row
Tags: Andrew Lloyd Webber, BBC, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Christian, Christianity, Duma, Eastern Orthodox Church, Federal Assembly of Russia, Jesus Christ Superstar, Moscow, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox, Orthodox Christians, Orthodoxy, political commentary, politics, Prokuratura, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, RF Gosduma, Russia, Russian, Russian Orthodox Church, Southern Federal District, State Duma
No matter how you say it, “no” means “no”, and all the supercilious caterwauling by Westerners and their sycophantic hangers-on won’t change it. You can’t dictate to others what they’ll allow or not… didn’t Innocence of Muslims teach us ANYTHING?
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A theatre in Rostov-on-Don, a city of one million in the Southern Federal District in Russia, dropped a production of Jesus Christ Superstar after protests by Orthodox Christians. A Russian company was due to stage the Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera at the Rostov Philharmonic next month. Protesters complained that the opera projected the “wrong” image of Christ. News of the cancellation baffled members of the cast and caused indignation among commentators wary of Church interference in public life. According to the Rostov Times, local Russian Orthodox protesters lodged a complaint with the local Prokuratura and wrote a letter to the management of the Philharmonic. Citing a “new law protecting the rights of believers”, they described the musical as a “profanation” and said that any such production should be submitted to the Russian Orthodox Church (sic) for approval.
It’s unclear to which law the protesters were referring. The lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, the RF Gosduma, is currently considering a bill that would make it a crime to offend the “religious feelings of citizens”. This year, religious sensitivities became a real political issue in Russia, with the prosecution and jailing of three punk musicians from the band Pussy Riot for performing a political protest song inside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. Popular Russian blogger Rustem Adagamov said in a tweet that “Orthodox philistines” cancelled the musical. The award-winning rock opera made its Broadway debut in 1971 and has since been performed across the world, with several film versions produced. Russian theatres have staged it for more than two decades.
29 September 2012
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19769034