I don't know enough about this town but I do know that the idea of the Russian Orthodox Church cultivating fealty to mother Russia over the decades seems ironic. After all, one of the primary tenets of authoritarian communism in the 20th c. was to suppress challenges to the authority of the state, in any form. I suppose the church refers to centuries old Russian traditions and culture that long precede Communism but why wouldn't that be Ukrainian as well? https://nyti.ms/3iPO3PK