Police in Russia raided the home of Father Ioann Kurmoyanov, confiscated his mobile phone, laptop, two icons, a cassock and wooden cross. He was then delivered to a police station in St. Petersburg, where he was allowed to make one call to his family, as reported by BBC.
Father Ioann is believed to be the first priest to have been detained in accordance with the new laws in Russia that punish those who spread information that counters Kremlin’s narratives about the war in Ukraine, BBC reports.
«I am a prisoner of conscience, suffering for my beliefs. I consider the charges against me and my detention to be illegal,» Father Ioann said in a statement he gave to his lawyer while at St. Petersburg Kresty Prison.
Father Ioann says he is a Christian pacifist whose moral principles are based fully on commandments of the Gospel and canons of the Russian Orthodox Church.
About two weeks after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on 12 March Father Ioann uploaded a lengthy video on YouTube.
In it he said those responsible for the aggression will not be allowed in heaven. Headed it was not Ukraine that attacked Russia, but the other way around.
«You are the aggressors who attacked and killed civilians. You will not be in any kind of heaven, you will be in hell,» he told the Russian government.
In his video he also compared Russia’s invasion to violent Jihad, adding that the bloodthirsty leaders in Moscow should have converted into ‘militant Jihadists’. He continued touching on this topic throughout the video.
Father Ioann’s brother Aleksandr Kurmoyasov said his brother is currently serving a two-month arrest, after which he will most likely be put on trial.
«We thought maybe he would be given a warning by the police, but now we are worried that he will get 10 years in prison,» said Kurmoyasov, referencing the biggest sentence Father Ioan could receive.
The only person who has visited Father Ioann in prison is his lawyer Leonid Krikun, who claims his client is in good health and defiant.
«I told Father Ioann that if he pleads guilty he will probably get a shorter sentence, but he refuses to say he has committed any crime,» said the lawyer.
«He says that he would rather serve a longer sentence than admit any wrong-doing and if that happens he will preach to fellow inmates.»
BBC writes that Father Ioann has a history of speaking openly. He was suspended from the church in 2020 after calling the newly-built Russian Armed Forces Church a «pagan temple».
The Moscow Cathedral was the brainchild of Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu. In this cathedral there are frescos featuring Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin, as well as backgrounds glorifying Crimea’s occupation.
What makes Father Ioann’s story odd is that before he got into trouble with Russia, he had a brush with Ukraine’s security service.
Father Ioann spent most of his youth in Vinnytsia, where his parents moved after his father retired from the Russian army. In 2017 Father Ioann’s name was featured in Ukrainian news in regards to some act of defiance.
Following Crimea’s annexation and the occupation of Ukraine’s eastern territories by Russian-backed forces, Ukraine adopted a law that bans the use of Soviet symbols. However, Father Ioann published photos featuring one of the most controversial one – St. George’s Ribbon.
Police took him in for questioning, and the Ukrainian security service presented administrative charges. Although St. George’s Ribbon is mainly used for commemorative events dedicated to the victory over Nazi Germany, Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine have picked it up as well.
«He was not radically pro-Russia, he was standing up for freedom of speech and simply believed the authorities were doing the wrong thing by banning displays of the ribbon,» said his brother Aleksandr.
Father Ioann said at the time he is prepared to pay the fine. He also said he would still wear the ribbon in secret, since he has paid for this privilege. The case against him was later terminated.
He then moved to Russia, where he is already paying a much higher price for defying the practice of curbing the freedom of expression, BBC reports.