Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, January 17, 2022
Inside the trapeza at the Iveron-St. Seraphim Monastery in Alma-Ata. Photo: vlast.kz
Nuns of the Iveron-St. Seraphim Monastery in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, began specially baking bread for the needy during the recent riots, which hampered the supply of bread to the city.
“They started baking bread, and those who turned to them for help, of course received it,” Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov, head of the Astan and Alma-Ata Diocese’s Information Department, told RIA-Novosti.
At least 100 people were able to receive bread, though the exact number is difficult to say, Fr. Evgeny added.
The Iveron-St. Seraphim Convent was first established by decree of the Holy Governing Synod on December 20, 1908. Closed in Soviet times, it was restored in 2003. Since March 30, 2005, the monastery has been led by Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina). It is the only monastery in the city.
Earlier, this month, His Eminence Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan made an appeal for peace to the nation.
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Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the first days of 2022—residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed a twofold increase in prices for liquefied gas. Later, the protests spread to other cities, including Alma-Ata, the old capital and the largest city of the republic. Looting began there, and militants attacked state institutions, taking weapons. In response, the authorities imposed a state of emergency across the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation. According to the UN, about 1,000 people were injured during the protests in Kazakhstan. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 18 security officers were killed.
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