To commemorate the 75th anniversary of friendship between Russia and Myanmar, a Russian Orthodox Christian church will be built on a land area of 1.25 acres in Dagon Myothit (North) in Yangon Region.

On 19 October, a group led by His Eminence Metropolitan Sergyi, a Russian Orthodox Christian bishop for Southeast Asia, met with the mayor of Yangon, Bo Htay, and the mayor said that they would assist in the matter of building the church as soon as possible, as well as providing water and electricity.

"As far as I know, they (Myanmar authorities) are no longer allowed to build churches in Myanmar,” said a person familiar with Christian churches in Myanmar. “Even if you seek permission to build a church, it will never be approved. So, people have to gather in houses and apartments for prayer gatherings. Now that Russia has given permission to build a church, who will worship?"

Currently, there are about 260 million Orthodox Christians in the world. It is known that about 100 million of them are from Russia.