The Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill is always accompanied by a mistress – investigation
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has, contrary to Orthodox canon law, taken a civil partner. Moreover, he reportedly registers many of his assets in her name.
This is reported in an investigation by the media outlet Proekt.
The report questions the adherence of ROC leader Vladimir Gundyayev (Patriarch Kirill) to church canons. According to the obtained data, for over 50 years he has been accompanied by Lidia Leonova, who effectively fulfills the role of a civil wife. Although Russian official propaganda refers to her as the “third cousin” of the patriarch, analyses of biographies and archival documents do not confirm any familial relationship between them.
The relationship between Gundyayev and Leonova (née Kholodova) began in Leningrad, where she was the daughter of a CPSU regional committee cook. When the future patriarch was transferred to service in Smolensk in 1984, she moved with him. Witnesses who visited Kirill’s residence during his time as metropolitan describe Leonova as the person who fully manages the patriarch’s household, handles gifts, and is involved in his business dealings with associates. Despite the fact that, as a monk, the patriarch is forbidden to be married, Leonova accompanies him on private trips on VIP liners, including extended visits to Baku.
A significant portion of real estate and valuable property associated with the patriarch is legally registered either in Lidia Leonova’s name or their joint company, pointedly named Vladolid (likely a combination of the names Vladimir and Lidia). Among the identified assets are:
- Luxury real estate: a 200-square-meter apartment and a flat in a historic building in Saint Petersburg, as well as the controversially famous apartment in Moscow’s House on the Embankment, worth millions of dollars.
- Country estates: plots and a cottage in the Moscow region near Patriot Park, as well as housing in the prestigious Old Stables neighborhood of Moscow.
- Car fleet: a series of luxury vehicles, including BMW X5 and Lexus models, purchased and registered in Leonova’s name over the past 15 years.
The disclosed facts indicate the creation of a private family structure within the leadership of the ROC, which contradicts monastic vows of poverty and celibacy. The situation with Leonova’s 2012 lawsuit against a neighbor in Moscow over “construction dust” became the first public evidence that she is the manager of the patriarch’s property. Currently, official representatives of the patriarchate and Gundyayev himself avoid commenting on the investigation’s findings.
Previously, ROC Patriarch Kirill publicly claimed that Russians fighting against Ukraine allegedly do not violate the biblical commandment “Thou shalt not kill.”
