Pictures show glitzy interiors and controversial mosaics taking shape in a church that is being built to commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Inside Moscow's New Military Megachurch
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A glitzy interior room of the cathedral under construction. Most of these pictures were made available by the Russian Defense Ministry in late April.
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A pool in the cathedral that will be used for baptisms. The church was supposed to be paid for entirely through donations, but according to Russian reports some 2.95 billion rubles (about $40 million) came from the Kremlin's budget for the project.
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A worker pushes open an entrance to the cathedral on April 27.
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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) visits the cathedral on April 22. The decorative reliefs in the background mark the start and finish of what Russians call the Great Patriotic War, which began for Soviets in 1941 with the Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R. and ended with Germany's defeat in Europe in 1945.