Oleksandr Sydorenko, deputy head of the regional administration of eastern Ukrainian Kharkiv, said on 20 August 2002 that local authorities were concerned over the possibility of religious conflicts in the region.
“Destructive religious groups have appeared in the region and their activities threaten interreligious stability. It is absolutely clear that the district administrations are now headed by people who never in their lives had anything to do with the religious sphere,” said Sydorenko. He also suggested that, in order to be able to deal with various religious groups, regional officials should get acquainted with the history of religion. Source: www.i-news.org