Artist Nikolay Polissky, founder of Nikola-Lenivets, creates impressive land art installations to burn for Russia's Maslenitsa festival each year. This Russian folk tradition is celebrated during the last week before Lent and traditionally ends with the burning of a scarecrow. 

This year, the festival's title was Flaming Gothic, which is the literal Russian translation of the ornate architecture style. Although it was in line with the theme of the festival, Polissky's cathedral sparked controversy after the images and videos of it burning went viral. Some claimed it was an attack on Christianity and Russian Orthodoxy, while others asserted this played into Russian nationalist propaganda. 

Far from his intentions, Polissky explains, “There was nothing of religious worship in my art object, of course there were no crosses, altar or any religious symbols. This is not a copy of any existing structure of religious worship nor an imitation of a church. It is simply a bonfire built in the style of a Gothic building.”