In Russia, a priest who was a powerlifter was killed in a car accident

In the Voronezh Region of the Russian Federation, 40-year-old priest Alexei Goncharov, known on social media as “Turbo-Batyushka,” was involved in a fatal accident.

According to Russian media reports, his Kia Stinger sports car collided with an Opel driven by a 22-year-old woman. 

 She was killed. A 20-year-old passenger in the Opel was able to get out of the car on his own and call an ambulance.

Goncharov is a master of sports in powerlifting and the founder of the “Turbo Rusich” sports movement. The priest himself declined to comment on the accident.

Russia is intensifying its ideological influence on young people in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, using religious organizations for this purpose. In particular, a youth forum titled “Orthodox Donbas” was held in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast.

The Russian Orthodox Church has officially approved at least 12 war-related prayers, including a mandatory prayer “for Holy Rus,” which contains a plea for Russia’s victory. This was reported on August 2 by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

The Russian Orthodox Church has called for tighter control over divorces and, in effect, a return to the practices of the Soviet era.