Monasteries of Athos gather to fight the “Russian world” on the Holy Mountain

The Holy Kinot of Holy Mount Athos (the governing body of the “monastic republic” – ed.) has decided to tighten control over the entry of pilgrims with Russian citizenship into the territory of Athos. It is reported that “preachers of the Russian world” have infiltrated Athos, finding common ground with radical monks on the basis of criticism of liberalism, moral decay of the West and the “heresy of ecumenism.” The Kinot fears that among the “preachers” there may be many intelligence officers who “work under the church roof.” This was reported by the “Novaya Gazeta Evropa”.

It is reported that the initiative to introduce new restrictions for pilgrims belongs to the civilian governor of Athos Anastasios Mitsalis, who was appointed to this position a year and a half ago. Previously, Mitsalis worked as the deputy director of the National Intelligence Service of Greece and is “well informed about the activity of Russian special services on Mount Athos.”

As Novaya Gazeta Evropa reported, in the early 2000s, a group of Russian security officials and oligarchs formed the elite Athos Club, which, according to various sources, included the current head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, former KGB operative and St. Petersburg governor Georgy Poltavchenko, former secretary of the United Russia General Council and current governor of the Altai Republic Andrey Turchak, St. Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov, businessmen Arkady Rotenberg and Ivan Savvidi, and the Guryevs, father and son. .. The activities of the “club” can be said to have been personally blessed by Putin, who visited Athos in 2005 and 2016 (the second time with great difficulty due to a storm and hurricane).

According to Novaya Gazeta, the members of the “club” accumulated and sent billions to Athos, which “were pumped through the board of trustees of the Panteleimon Monastery on Athos and the Russian Athonite Society,” created by Putin’s “masseur” Konstantin Goloshchapov. During the years of Dmitry Medvedev’s presidency, the International Fund for the Restoration and Preservation of the Cultural and Spiritual Heritage of St. Panteleimon Monastery also operated.

In addition, since St. Panteleimon’s Monastery, which has a reputation as a Russian monastery, was under the close supervision of the Greek special services, potential emissaries of the “Russian world” allegedly gradually moved their informal headquarters to the “rebellious” St. Esphigmenou Monastery, which has been in fierce conflict with the Patriarchate of Constantinople for more than 50 years and is considered “schismatic.”

According to Archimandrite Bartholomew, the abbot of New Esphigmenou, who is seeking the expulsion of “rebellious” monks from the walls of the ancient monastery, the Russians used speedboats to deliver people and goods to Athos, which were not checked by the coast guard, and representatives of Panteleimon Monastery and Old Esphigmenou informed the Russians in advance of the “safest” hours for navigation, when the coast guard was not on duty. Archimandrite Bartholomew claims that this illegal traffic was even used for human trafficking, and Greek intelligence services suspect the possibility of illegal arms and drug trafficking through this channel.