Kirill to lead liturgy in Chersonese, where Vladimir was baptized.

SEVASTOPOL, August 2 (Itar-Tass) -- Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Kirill will officiate a divine liturgy at the place of the Byzantine city
of Chersonese, where Grand Prince Vladimir was baptized in the 10th
century A.D. and then baptized many people in ancient Rus. The Russian
supreme hierarch will hold a service in Chersonese for the first time in
the history of the Russian Orthodox Christianity. This event will
culminate the 10-day pastoral trip of the Russian patriarch in Ukraine.
Chersonese has been a Christian stronghold in Eastern Europe for many
centuries. Back in the first century A.D. Apostle Andrew the First Called
visited Chersonese; Rome Pope Clement passed the last years of his life in
the city on the turn of the second century; the apostles of Slavic
peoples, Saints Cyril and Methodius lived in Chersonese in the ninth
century.
"The church, where Grand Prince Vladimir was baptized in 988 A.D., was
built in the fourth century under the decree of Byzantine Emperor
Constantine. The Basilica (a church built in the Byzantine style) was the
major church in ancient Chersonese. Scientists believe that Grand Prince
Vladimir was not only baptized at the church, but also got married to
sister of the Byzantine emperors, Princess Anna. Some remnants of the
baptistery preserved up to now that was a separate building in the church
with the font one meter deep.
The comparison of historical, archaeological and canonical sources
enabled to establish that Prince Vladimir was baptized right there,"
scientist from the Institute of Universal History of the Russian Academy
of Sciences Sergei Belyayev told Itar-Tass. In the late 80s of the
twentieth century he headed an archaeological expedition in Chersonese. He
has made a scientific discovery finding the font, where the Russian prince
was baptized.
The ruins of the ancient city remained nowadays. This place was
announced an open-air museum. "A round font is about three meters in
diameter and 74 centimetres deep. In the year 2000 opening the Third
Christian Millennium a chapel was built over the baptistery. It is
possible to assume from some pieces of smalt found by the archaeologists
that the blue sky with gold crosses was enamelled on the dome of the
church," Belyayev said.
"The font, where the prince was baptized, and the church has the same
importance for Rus as Jerusalem for the whole Christian world. The light
of Christian faith was coming from this place to all parts of our homeland
from western borders to the Pacific Ocean," the historian said. "Presently
when the church, which is a symbol of Vladimir's baptism in Chersonese,
was restored and religious services resumed there since 2004 - all these
changes made the arrival of the Russian patriarch possible to this
remarkable place for all Russians," he said.
Meanwhile, Sevastopol Mayor Sergei Kunitsyn asked residents and guests
of the city to refrain from motor trips in the city on the arrival day of
the Russian patriarch.
The Sevastopol mayor said to all people, who are going to attend the
patriarchal service in Chersonese, "The gates in Chersonese will open at 5
a.m. You will have two hours to enter the open-air museum. The access will
be closed at 7 a.m."
Meanwhile, the access on the Nakhimov Square in downtown Sevastopol
will be closed at 10.30 a.m. (9.30 a.m. Moscow time). Dozen thousand
people will be able to watch and listen to Patriarch Kirill on huge
luminescent screens.
Sergei Kunitsyn expressed confidence that "there will be no incidents,
provocations and disorders in Sevastopol." Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada
of Ukraine Vladimir Litvin, Commander of the Ukrainian Border Troops
Nikolai Litvin, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, former Prime
Minister Valery Pustovoitenko and several deputies of Ukrainian parliament
stated about their intention to attend the events in Chersonese and on the
Nakhimov Square.

.Flood on Amur river reaches Khabarovsk.

KHABAROVSK, August 2 (Itar-Tass) -- A high flood on the Amur River
reached Khabarovsk. The water level at the monitoring post in the vicinity
of the territorial centre "reached 4.95 meters above zero," a source in
the regional centre for hydrometeorology and ecological monitoring told
Itar-Tass on Sunday.
According to specialists, "The water is about to stop rising, and the
highest water level is observed from the start of the flood." The water
will go down slowly near Khabarovsk in a few days. Six meters are
considered the critical level, when the settlements are flooded inevitably.
Meanwhile, the water keeps rising slowly as the flood is going
downstream the Amur in the Khabarovsk, Nanai, Amur, Komsomolsk and Ulchi
districts. The bottomland is flooded two meters deep on a huge territory
up to the low reaches of the Amur. The grassland, soy fields, croplands
and potato plantations were flooded. According to preliminary estimates,
more than 3,000 hectares of croplands were flooded. Countryside houses are
flooded on the left bank one meter high, only sunflowers and cornstalks
are above the water. People were stripped of the harvest of vegetables and
potatoes. The harvesters were urgently evacuated from the grassland. The
hay procurement plan for agricultural enterprises was disrupted, the hay
harvesting target was fulfilled only by 35%. The haylage was stocked by
about 90%.
In Khabarovsk the water is flooding up to a construction site, where a
covered palace of ice for bandy is under construction. The dam protected
the construction site from flooding, but the builders had to pump the
water out. The coastal areas of the private housing sector were partially
flooded.
According to forecasts of hydrologists, "A high water level will
remain on the Amur River." In the basins of the Ussuri, Amguni, Tunguska
and other rivers the water level is falling sharply at some places. "There
is no threat of flood to settlements," a source in the territorial
ministry of emergency situations said.
Due to a high water level on the Amur the engineers at the Burei
hydropower plant have cut discharges of water through the dam. The water
level keeps growing in the water reservoir up to 1.9 thousand cubic meters
daily for the last few days. The personnel of the hydropower plant are
keeping the water accumulation parameters set by the Amur water
department. The water level in the water reservoir does not exceed 254
meters with the maximum permissible level of 256 meters.
-0-baz