About 2,000 people have protested against a church being built on a park square in Yekaterinburg in Russia.
Twenty-six people were arrested during Tuesday’s clashes and there were further protests on Wednesday.
Activists say building St Catherine’s Cathedral on the square will destroy one of the city’s few green spaces.
The Russian Orthodox Church says it needs new churches to replace the many buildings destroyed under Soviet anti-religion laws.
This particular church will be a replica of one such cathedral that was demolished in 1930.
It is due to be completed in 2023 in time for the 300th anniversary of the founding of Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday criticised the protesters for “unauthorised gatherings” as well as for pulling down fencing around the construction site.
