You've reached your limit of free articles.
To read the full story, start your free trial today.
Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.
Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.
Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Russian soldiers during mass at an Orthodox church in Moscow.
Pushing the Kremlin's agenda abroad
The Russian ambassador called the deportation "brutal and blatant." In a statement, the Russian mission in Bulgaria wrote: "It is obvious that the current Bulgarian leaders have set themselves the task of destroying only socio-political and cultural-humanitarian ties between our countries, but also the severance of relations between sister Orthodox Churches and the turning of the Russian and Bulgarian nations against each other."
Bulgaria is not the only country accusing Archimandrite Wassian, who in secular life is known as Nikolai Zmeev, of working for Russian security services.
The priest may have been cooperating with the Russian services for years.
Radio Svoboda has reported that he was among three Russian diplomats recognized as persona non grata by North Macedonia. According to Macedonian and Bulgarian media, Zmeev had been "following Moscow's orders to cause a split in the Macedonian Church" for years.
File photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill
Wikimedia Commons
From the church to the FSB, GRU and the intelligence service
Even stronger charges were brought in the U.S. against another Russian Orthodox priest, Dmitry Petrovsky. After analyzing his activities as part of his work in the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, the FBI accused him of recruiting agents among priests and parishioners of Orthodox churches in the U.S. for the Russian services.
Citing FBI sources, Russian investigative journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan described Petrovsky's activities on the independent website Agentura. Their findings show that the priest may have been cooperating with the Russian services for years, under the guidance of Patriarch Kirill, who has long been loyal to the Kremlin and openly supports the war in Ukraine.
In May 2021, FBI officers found files related to Russian intelligence on Petrovsky's computer. The documents included files on prominent Orthodox priests in the U.S., as well as detailed biographies of their family members. According to FBI agents, this data was intended to help Pietrowski to blackmail other members of the Orthodox clergy.
Kirill tidying up
According to Soldatov and Borogan, the documents found on Petrovsky's computer also contained a plan for cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian security services.
The "areas of cooperation" mentioned included, among others, "the involvement of clergy in operational activities." Investigative journalists, citing informants from the Russian Orthodox Church, determined that these documents were prepared shortly after Kirill was appointed patriarch in 2009. The FBI shares the same opinion.
However, the American authorities have not yet detained Petrovsky, who appears to be in Russia.
- How The Russian Orthodox Church Has Become A Willing Pawn In Putin's War ›
- Is Russia's New Cultural Center In Paris Used For Spying? ›
- What's Wrong With The Russian Orthodox Church? ›
