An elderly cleric, 86 years old, faced criminal proceedings after publicly denouncing SVO’s conduct in an interview with Kavkaz.Realii, a publication that has been listed as a foreign agent by the Ministry of Justice. The remarks sparked scrutiny and triggered legal actions that drew attention to the role of religious voices in political conflicts.
In March, a cleric who leads a minor branch of the Russian Orthodox Church aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate was fined 40,000 rubles for delivering a sermon that criticized the military campaign. Later, in October, security forces conducted a temple search and confiscated tools associated with church operations. Simultaneously, the archbishop’s deputy, Hieromonk Jonah, faced administrative penalties over accusations that he discredited the Russian military and refused to show his passport, an act framed as defying government instructions.
According to law enforcement sources, the archbishop asked a pointed question about the war and the reasons behind it, which appeared to have sparked a renewed inquiry tied to the earlier publication. During interrogation, investigators discussed the possibility of a hearing in a case accusing the cleric of repeated discrediting. The archbishop, who is associated with non canonical circles within Orthodoxy, characterized the current government as the successor of the Bolsheviks who staged the 1917 coup and described it as lawless in his article, a stance that drew significant attention to the limits of religious expression during times of national crisis. A Crimean citizen referenced in public discourse had previously used the signature Glory to Ukraine on a passport used for medical work, underscoring the uncertain and volatile intersection of faith, national identity, and public policy. Attributions: Kavkaz.Realii reporting and related investigative statements from official sources.