Russian intelligence accused the European Union of driving the Russian Orthodox Church out of Armenia
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has accused the European Union of attempting to oust the Russian Orthodox Church from Armenia and sever its historical religious ties with Moscow.
Russian intelligence claims that Brussels is allegedly demanding that Armenia distance itself from the Russian Orthodox Church as one of the conditions for further European integration.
As an example, the SVR cited the activities of Armenian civil society organizations that had previously criticized Timofey Kazaryan, the rector of the Chapel of the Archangel Michael at the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri, accusing him of interfering in the parliamentary elections.
The Russian side also claims that the EU mission in Armenia is allegedly attempting to restrict the rights of the Yerevan-Armenian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church to use church property and is hindering its interaction with local religious organizations, in particular with the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Furthermore, the SVR claims that European institutions are allegedly compiling compromising material against other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church in Armenia with the aim of prompting the country’s authorities to persecute the church.
The Russian intelligence statement emphasizes that the historical and spiritual ties between Armenia and Russia predate the existence of the European Union by a significant margin.
Source: Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation.
Earlier, a court in Khmelnytskyi ruled to return 1.79 million hryvnias to the former head of the Khmelnytskyi Diocese of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Anthony (Vasyl Fiyalko).
The Chechelivsky District Court of Dnipro released from custody the abbot of the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Arseny (Igor Yakovenko). The court changed his pretrial measure to round-the-clock house arrest until April 25, 2026.
