Category: Defense

  • The Czech Republic expelled the head of the Russian court in Prague

    At the beginning of August, the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic, Fr. Nikolay Lishchenyuk was declared persona non grata by the authorities. He has to leave the country within a month. He is accused that “with the support of the Russian authorities, he created a structure of influence and threatens the safety of the country.” The case was reported by the Czech publication denikn.cz and RIA Novosti.

    Fifty-one-year-old priest Nikolay Lishchenyuk came to the Czech Republic around 2000. According to his official biography, he served in the church of the Russian Embassy in Prague, and later in Karlovy Vary, in the church of St. Peter and Paul”. In 2009, he was appointed as representative of the Moscow Patriarch in Prague, which was opened shortly before that – in 2007.

    In August 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic terminated his residence permit. He contested and his case reached the Constitutional Court, but lost. Father Nikolay was in the reach of the Czech special services because of “undesirable activity”. The documents in the case state that, with the assistance of the state authorities of the Russian Federation, he organized “an influence structure that aimed to support separatist tendencies in the countries of the European Union.” Therefore, according to the authorities in the Czech Republic, a “reasonable assumption of a threat to the security of the country” has arisen.

    Information appeared in the Czech media about the cleric’s connections with Russian businessmen during the renovation of the Karlovy Vary church, as well as about “shadow income” of the ROC from a company for renting accommodation and non-residential premises in the Czech Republic. Already in June of this year, the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic issued a final opinion, and a month later an extraordinary meeting of the Czech Senate was held regarding the activities of the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country.

    According to the chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign policy, Pavel Fischer, “it would be a mistake to allow legal entities that are connected to a country hostile to us to operate in our country.” Moreover, the yard is subordinate to the patr. Kiril, who has been on the Czech Republic’s sanctions list since April 2023, Fischer said during a press conference on the expulsion of the Russian priest.

    Czech media recall that this is not the first such case. In September 2023, the representative of the Russian church in Sofia archimandrite Vasian (Zmeev) was deported from Bulgaria along with two priests (one was not actually a cleric). They were summoned to the immigration office to be told that they were declared persona non grata and should leave the country within 24 hours.

    In February of this year, the residence permit of the head of the Estonian Orthodox Church of Tallinn Metropolitan Yevgeny (Reshetnikov) was not extended because of his position on the war in Ukraine. Then the Estonian authorities announced that the ROC, which supports Russia’s aggression, is dangerous for the country.

  • A monastery in the Kursk region severely damaged

    A Ukrainian drone struck a monastery in the Kursk region of Russia, Reuters reported on 19.07.2024. A 60-year-old parishioner was killed in the attack, which took place around 08:30 local time.

    A Russian channel in “Telegram” indicated that a drone had fired eight projectiles at the Belogorsky Monastery “St. Nicholas” in the village of Gornal, next to the Ukrainian border.

    Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the attack.

    The men’s monastery was founded in 1671 and the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky once lived there, who immortalized his conversations with the monks in his novel The Brothers Karamazov.

    A child was injured in a previous attack on the monastery in August last year.

    St. Nicholas Monastery in Gornal village, Kursk Diocese, has been severely damaged in the hostilities that broke out in the Kursk region after the Ukrainian troops had crossed the state border of the Russian Federation. The Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled St. Nicholas Monastery, which is located in Gornal village, Sudzha district, Kursk region, several kilometres from the border with Ukraine, patriarchia.ru reports.

    According to the abbot of the monastery, Hegumen Pitirim (Plaksin), the Ukrainian forces opened fire on the monastery at about 7 a.m. on 6th August 2024, practically destroying the monastery’s main church that was being prepared for consecration. Burnt walls is what is left of the church. The Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God and the brethren’s living quarters caught fire and were also seriously damaged.

    On 7th August, most of the monks managed to evacuate. Seventeen people left the monastery. During the evacuation, one person, a monastery worker, died. Two monks still remain in the monastery. It is impossible to contact them.

    There is continuing uncertainty as to what is going on in the monastery now. According to unverifiable information, it is under control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As the hostilities in the region continue, it is impossible to obtain additional information about the people still remaining in the Gornal Monastery and the damage to its buildings.

    As for other churches in the Kursk Diocese that may be damaged by the shelling, information is being clarified.

    Photo: DECR Communication Service, 09/08/2024

  • Ukraine will need nearly nine billion US dollars to restore its cultural sites and tourism, according to UNESCO

    Ukraine will need almost nine billion US dollars over the next decade to rebuild its cultural sites and tourism industry after the Russian invasion and war, UNESCO has announced, the Associated Press reported, cited by BTA.

    According to UNESCO estimates, the country’s related cultural and tourism sectors have lost more than US$19 billion in revenue since the war began two years ago. The UN agency said the fighting damaged 341 cultural sites across Ukraine and caused $3.5 billion in damage, including in the capital Kyiv and the cities of Lviv in the west and Odesa in the south.

    “Odessa Cathedral is an example of such a site that has been seriously damaged,” said Chiara Deci Bardeschi, who heads UNESCO’s office in Ukraine. “It is a symbol of the whole community…with deep spiritual and historical significance”.

    In July 2023, UNESCO strongly condemned the “brazen attack by Russian forces” on historic buildings in the center of Odessa, designated last year by the UN agency as an endangered world heritage site. The attack killed at least two people and damaged several sites, including the late 18th-century Savior and Transfiguration Cathedral, which is the city’s main Orthodox church.

    Its original construction was destroyed in 1936, the temple was rebuilt in 1999-2003.

    UNESCO said the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage sites, including religious buildings and artefacts, could be considered a war crime.

    The International Criminal Court brought charges of war crimes, including targeted attacks on historic religious monuments and buildings, in a case involving Mali in 2015.

    In Ukraine, 1,711 objects of cultural infrastructure were damaged or destroyed as a result of Russian aggression, Ukrinform reported in November 2023.

    The cultural infrastructure suffered the greatest losses and damages in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Zaporozhye regions and the city of Kyiv, reports the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

    The largest group of cultural objects that suffered damage or were destroyed were club facilities, which made up 49% of the total number of cultural infrastructure objects that suffered damage.

    A total of 844 clubs, 603 libraries, 133 art schools, 100 museums and galleries, 31 theater buildings, cinemas and philharmonic halls were damaged or destroyed.

    Objects of cultural infrastructure are affected in 262 territorial communities (17.8% of the total number of territorial communities), in particular in the regions of Donetsk (83%), Sumy (53%), Kharkiv (52%), Chernihiv (46% ), Kherson (43%), Luhansk (42%), Mykolaiv (42%), Zaporizhia (36%), Kyiv (26%), Dnipropetrovsk (19%), Zhytomyr (12%), Odessa (8%), Khmelnytskyi (8%), Cherkasy (5%), Lviv (4%), Vinnytsia (3%), Zakarpattia (2%), Poltava (2%) and in the capital Kyiv itself.

    The Ministry notes that as of the end of October 2023, almost the entire territory of Luhansk Oblast and significant parts of the territories of Kherson, Zaporozhye, and Donetsk Oblasts remain temporarily occupied by the Russians. This makes it impossible to calculate the exact number of cultural infrastructure objects affected.

    Illustrative Photo: Old Odessa, postcard

  • The “Kalashnikov” Group increases the production for the first half of the year by 50%

    The “Kalashnikov” Group has increased its military and civilian production by 50% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, it said in a press release onc.

    It is in all directions – from the implementation of the volume of military production to the ongoing production of metal burning machines and instruments,” he says in summary by “Kalashnikov”.

    From there, they note that the distribution for the production of rope enters the second half of the year with new additional contracts. And the division for the production of metal burning machines – the largest volume of orders from external customers is 13%.

    In addition to the price, there is also a stable intepec to the metal burning machines 250ITBM. “Compared to the same period last year, during the first half of this year almost twice as many metal burning machines 250 and TBM were fined.

    The division for the special technique fulfilled the requirements of the government’s administrative order to 100%.”

    Currently, there is active exploitation of new production lines, where “from the beginning of the year, several children’s units of new equipment have been produced”.

    Photo: Mikhail Kalashnikov in Army Museum, Moscow, Russia (2007),

    Mikhail Kalashnikov

  • Due to sanctions and fear of mobilization: 650,000 have left Russia

    At least 650,000 Russians have left the country and moved permanently abroad since the start of the war against Ukraine, DPA reported. The main reasons are fear of mobilization and overcoming the imposed sanctions.

    Most of them emigrated to Armenia (110,000), Kazakhstan and Israel (80,000 each), according to the data of the independent Internet portal The Bell. The reason for the large number in these three countries is due to the fact that Russians do not need a visa for them.

    Germany is also a preferred destination for Russians, with their number increasing by more than 36,000.

    The Bell claims it made the calculations based on data from immigration authorities. In total, data from over 70 countries are included in the calculations.

    However, the portal claims that the data is not complete, as some countries popular among Russians, such as Thailand, Azerbaijan and Cyprus, did not respond to queries. Other countries such as the United Arab Emirates, where many Russians also moved after the war began, are not included in the calculations.

    Illustrative Photo by Jaxon Matthew Willis: https://www.pexels.com/photo/low-angle-shot-of-a-fighter-jet-23548969/

  • Former Schihegumen Sergiy (Romanov) wants to be pardoned and sent to the front in Ukraine

    The former abbot of the Middle Ural women’s monastery Fr. Sergius (Nikolai Romanov), who is serving a seven-year sentence, begs Putin for clemency. In the appeal, the former abbot says he helped build twenty churches and five monasteries in the Sverdlovsk region, and since 2014 has brought families with children “from the war zone in Ukraine.” The former schihegumen noted that he asked to be sent to the war in Ukraine as a medical worker or construction worker, but was denied because of his advanced age. For this reason, he now “takes spiritual care of the heroes of the special military operation” and assures that he is a patriot and loyal to the authorities. Now he is resuming his request to be sent to the “special military operation zone,” as Russia calls the war against Ukraine, which is eligible for release from prison under the country’s new laws.

    The former abbot Sergiy (Romanov) was arrested at the end of 2020 in his monastery by a special forces raid. His case gained widespread public attention because of his fame as an ultra-conservative “confessor of the faith” who was an alternative to the ever-compromising official church authority. He became especially popular during the pandemic, when he denied the existence of the disease, boycotted sanitary measures and preached that this position was tantamount to a profession of faith. Such views were then inherent in many religious people, but he had influence and popularity among circles of the so-called Russian elite.

    Video sermons with curses against church authority and accusations of a conspiracy by the authorities drew attention to him. In them he called the power “satanic” and “antichrist”. The priest was accused and convicted of “inciting a minor to commit suicide” because of his sermon, during which he asked parishioners if they were ready to die for Russia and for their children. According to other articles, the former abbot became accused after refusing to allow representatives of the Ekaterinburg Diocese to take an inventory of the monastery’s property. In January 2023, the court announced the final sentence – seven years in a penal colony.

    Before the pandemic, schihegumen Sergiy (Romanov) was known as the leader of the so-called “sect of Tsarebozhniks”, whose most popular member was the Russian MP Natalia Poklonskaya. She did much to promote him in the media as a “miracle worker”, “confessor” and “exorcist”. Later, Natalia Poklonskaya got married and changed her attitude towards him, saying that she was in a sect. In the women’s monastery, which he led, gathered “tsarebozhniki” (Russian monarchists, who raised the last Russian emperor into a cult), Cossacks, politicians and businessmen, former prisoners.

    The former abbot had accepted the priesthood, although before his conversion to the faith he had been in prison for murder. According to church canons, this is inadmissible – the person who took human life can repent and even become a saint, but the canons categorically forbid him to perform the Eucharist.