Russian Orthodox Church Funding Private Military Company

Earlier this year MOLFAR published a catalog of Russian PMCs, which identified 37 separate mercenary groups operating in as many as 34 different countries with more than two thirds of their funding coming from the state with the rest from oligarchs and other unspecified sources.

Buried in this report was reference to a PMC called Andreyevsky Krest (St Andrew s Cross) which it said was funded by donations collected by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) from its congregations throughout the federation.

A Russian Telegram channel, MASH, had reported in November 2022 that the ROC was funding training for those called up as part of Russia s 2022 autumn mobilization and were receiving blessings from a bishop of the church, Archimandrite Alexy, suggesting that they were being prepared by the ROC for a religious crusade.

Recent revelations by Ukrainian intelligence agencies suggests that the ROC s role may be a lot more than just gathering funds.

Andriy Yusov, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR), speaking on Ukraine s national telethon on Thursday, said unequivocally that Kyiv considers the ROC to have nothing to do with faith and religion, adding: This is a branch of Russian intelligence.

He went on to say that It is not news that previously, individuals from this organization publicly and officially participated in hostilities, blessed and consecrated missiles, weapons, took part in the training for Russian military, and motivated ordinary residents of the Russian Federation to engage in the genocide against Ukrainians.

via www.kyivpost.com

H/t LGS.