The Head of the Metropolis Offered Prayers at the Site of the Martyrdom of the Sufferers for Christ in Lisya Balka

August 20, 2025. Shymkent. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, on an archpastoral visit to the Shymkent Diocese, served a memorial litia in Lisya Balka – the place of execution of the sufferers for the Christian faith, political prisoners, and victims of repression in the 20th century.

Praying at the memorial service were: Bishop Chrisanf of Shymkent and Turkestan; Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolis; Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Service; A.B. Demin, Secretary of the Shymkent Diocese; and diocesan staff.

Those gathered offered prayers for “the archpastors, pastors, monastics, and laity in the land of Kazakhstan who suffered in the time of fierce persecution for God’s truth, for the Church of Christ, and who in this place were unjustly tortured and killed.” A magnification was sung in honor of the New Martyrs and Confessors who shone forth in the land of Kazakhstan.

Also present at the memorial service were: S.A. Kuranbek, Deputy Akim of Shymkent; B.A. Unerbaev, Head of the City Department for Religious Affairs; and A. Kuntu, personal assistant to the Deputy Akim.

At the memorial cross, the archpastors and clergy laid flowers.

The infamous Lisya Balka, near Shymkent, became the place of execution and final resting place for thousands of Orthodox Christians. Among them was Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov) of Kazan, one of the prominent figures of Russian Orthodoxy in the early 20th century. His spiritual stature is witnessed by the fact that in 1908 St. John of Kronstadt, before his death, requested that his funeral be performed by Bishop Kirill, then a vicar of the St. Petersburg Diocese.

Here, too, were executed Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh), Archbishop Alexy (Orlov), Bishop Evgeny (Kobranov), countless priests, monks, nuns, and lay believers.