Is Russia using this church in Sweden as a spying hub?

DW (English)

Local politicians in the Swedish city of Vasteras will ask the national government to shut down a Russian Orthodox church they believe is being used by the Kremlin as a spying hub. Supporters of the church say the parish is being treated unfairly.

Transcript

00:01The Church of the Holy Mother of God of Kazan

00:04gleams brightly in the forest outside Westeros, Sweden,

00:07but some say this Russian Orthodox parish has a dark side.

00:12Funded by Russia's state nuclear agency Rosatom,

00:15a subsidiary of Moscow's Russian Orthodox Church

00:18which actively supports the war in Ukraine,

00:21and led by a priest convicted of financial fraud

00:25who's rarely seen in public.

00:27It's definitely a tool for Russian foreign influence.

00:31Hybrid warfare researcher Patrick Ochsenen

00:33has voiced concern about the church for years.

00:36The malicious connection here is that when you have a church,

00:40you have an area that is protected from contraspionage.

00:46The Swedish authorities are not allowed to eavesdrop on the church

00:51in the Swedish law.

00:52He and a colleague first started publishing their investigations

00:55as construction got underway in 2019.

00:58That alerted some city officials to the strategic importance

01:01of the land they'd sold.

01:03One of Sweden's longest airport runways used for military exercises

01:08is just some 300 meters away.

01:10Major industry headquarters, a hospital and a port are also nearby.

01:14Back then, Westeros city council member Elizabeth Unel

01:18couldn't get enough support to stop the construction.

01:22Attitudes changed with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

01:27I said we have to do something.

01:29The problem is the connection with Kremlin.

01:31It is a strong connection, and then it shouldn't be 300 meters from our airport.

01:35Her initiative, to make the church sell back the land and find a new location,

01:40finally got unanimous council backing in June.

01:43The city is now seeking mandatory national government approval.

01:47Last year, the agency providing financial assistance to non-state religions

01:52throughout Sweden cut off the Westeros church.

01:55After Swedish intelligence warned them, Moscow was using this parish, quote,

02:00To conduct intelligence gathering and other security-threatening activities.

02:07Our decisions do not infringe upon your right to actually practice religion.

02:12So that you can still do freely in Sweden.

02:14But if the state is supposed to give you grants,

02:17then of course you have to be aligned with the Swedish state's values.

02:22Russian Ambassador Sergey Belioff says the city council decision

02:26reflects a nationwide anti-Russia campaign

02:29and will unfairly hurt believers.

02:31It was not their choice where to build the church.

02:36It was given to them.

02:38Actually, Orthodox people from different places of Sweden come to this church.

02:43It's the only church of Russian Orthodox church working in Sweden.

02:49Neighbors of this church didn't want to be identified while sharing their opinions.

02:54I don't think they should be here.

02:57They can have a church.

02:59I have no problem with that.

03:00But not here.

03:01But here it's too strategic to have it.

03:04We came here for Sunday morning services,

03:06hoping someone from church leadership would agree to come out and speak with us

03:10after several requests over multiple days.

03:12But they didn't.

03:14Most of the worshippers arriving here also would barely look at us.

03:18One man shook his finger in a clear sign to go away.

03:21A Russian speaking woman called us shpion or spies.

03:25Only one young man agreed to speak with us.

03:28We are obscuring his identity because he's under 18.

03:32He said he's proud to attend and defend the church and hopes the expropriation effort fails.

03:39If they turn this church down, they are turning their back against the people who live in their city.

03:44But it seems our conversation may have made the church turn its back on him.

03:49After speaking with DW, the young man was not allowed to enter.

03:53Incidents like this may add to concerns about what might be going on inside this fence.

03:59Whatever that is, the city of Westeros has faith it won't be happening here much longer.

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