One of the constant narratives of Kremlin propaganda concerns “godless” and “sinful” Ukrainians, who in the sick imagination of Russians appear as “Satanists” and “occultists”. As another “proof” of this, some Telegram channels published a video in which “satanic dances with icons” were allegedly arranged near a Ukrainian church.
However, in reality, the video was not shot in Ukraine and it does not record dances, but an ancient religious tradition. However, this is further.
Fake
In the video, which is distributed by agitprop, you can see girls and young men who, to the accompaniment of music, holding an icon and a sculpture, perform separate movements in a certain sequence. The Russians claim that the video was shot near a Ukrainian church.
“Ukrainian women staged satanic dances with icons near the church. The video appeared on tg channels with the caption “the church service in Ukraine now looks like this,” the post says in the original language.
However, this video appeared with such a message except on Russian scavengers. And it was first published by a user from Poland on the X social network, indignant at such a tradition in Polish culture. http://surl.li/tofecd
We are talking about prostrations of ferretrons – double-sided processional icons used during religious events, in particular during processions around the temple or the city.
And the worship of ferretrons is an element of the pilgrimage tradition of the Kashubian people, who live in northwestern Poland. http://surl.li/npmpqd
This tradition, which was started in the 18th century, is included in the national list of intangible national heritage of Poland (No. 90 of the list). http://surl.li/kjifdl
At first glance, indeed, the movements with the icon may seem like strange and incomprehensible dances. However, such a ritual in the Kashubian tradition symbolizes worship of God.
During its performance, first throw the image three times, then bow forward, back, right and left, symbolizing the cross, and then make a circle and bow forward. The circle is a sign of the perfection of one God in three persons, and bowing forward is a greeting. http://surl.li/ooqjxx
There are many videos online that demonstrate this tradition. http://surl.li/pbjfku
CONCLUSIONS
In the video spread by propagandists, Ukrainian women do not perform “satanic dances” with an icon near the church. It records the ancient religious tradition of the Kashubian people living in Poland.
The Russians spread such videos with the aim of demonizing the Ukrainian population and justifying the attack on Ukraine.