The St. Petersburg Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture has approved the design for a church dedicated to participants in the Special Military Operation (SVO) and other military operations. The church, named after St. George the Victorious, will be built in the Pushkin district.

The approved visualizations, developed by Dalpiterstroy LLC, largely mirror the temple concept presented for public discussion in 2024. The dome will reach a height of approximately 29.9 meters, comparable to a nine-story building. A wooden chapel, erected in May 2024 as part of the territory’s improvement, is depicted nearby and is considered temporary. Elements such as the bell tower, refectory, and alley honoring SVO participants, previously announced during public discussions, are not visible in the visualization and may be approved separately in the future.

The Pushkin parish of the St. Sophia (Ascension) Cathedral received a building permit on June 6, with Stroykonstant LLC listed as the contractor. The Committee for the Protection of Monuments had previously approved the project.

A group promoting the temple project on the VKontakte social network refers to the future structure as the “Warrior Temple.” Banners advertising the chapel and the project were removed following complaints from local residents, who cited that the banners exceeded the boundaries of the plot allocated to the Russian Orthodox Church, encroached on a bicycle path, and lacked the necessary approvals.

Prior to public discussions, the Pushkin district administration and the Tsarskoye Selo Deanery held an auction in February 2024 to raise funds for the temple’s construction. The opening of the chapel and a worship cross at the future “Warrior Temple” site in May was attended by Governor Alexander Beglov and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Alexander Belsky.

The project will occupy a nearly 3,700-square-meter land plot previously granted to the St. Sophia Cathedral parish for landscaping purposes for three years. The building permit, effective from June 6, specifies a building area of 306 sq. m. The permitted building height on the site was increased from 12 to 30 meters for this project.

Local residents opposed to the temple’s construction near residential buildings on Detskoselsky Boulevard voiced their concerns during public hearings and in letters to various authorities, including the district administration, the parish of the St. Sophia Cathedral, the governor’s office, the prosecutor’s office, and the President’s administration. They unsuccessfully sought to preserve the green area and create a public garden.

In May 2025, the St. Petersburg administration announced plans to recreate a 19th-century Orthodox chapel near the Alexandrovskaya railway station in the Pushkin district. This project will be undertaken by the parish of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Alexandrovskaya.