In rural Ukraine, a community of ‘simple believers’ shuns the modern world

They call themselves simple believers – viruiuchi prostaky, in Ukrainian – or just believers, who strive to live by biblical law and remain apart from the modern world. Photos: MAURICIO LIMA/The New York Times

On the outskirts of Kosmyryn, a village in western Ukraine, several men poured the foundation for a house. They used hand tools – shovels, wheelbarrows, a manual cement mixer. No engines, no electric cables.

They let themselves be photographed, which is rare. Most members of their Christian community shun images of any kind. Their homes contain no pictures or icons. They believe that creating images of people, or of God, violates the Second Commandment and distracts from the true faith.