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During Kirill Gundyayev’s tenure, the Russian Church has increasingly become an extension of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin regime.

This was stated in an interview with Yevgeniy Kiselyov by religious studies scholar Dr. Sergey Shumilo, a senior research fellow at the Faculty of History of Vilnius University, executive director of the Libertas Fidei Centre for the Study of Religious Freedom and Doctor of Theology.

According to Shumilo, the Russian regime also uses the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, including in Europe, to advance its own interests.

“This is an example of the use of soft power to promote Kremlin narratives among certain sections of society, including in Western Europe. This problem is becoming increasingly apparent. We cannot say that all priests and believers are involved in this system, but many priests willingly perform this role.

“In this situation, the Church ceases to function as a church. We are no longer talking about a church, but rather about certain state structures operating under the guise of a church,” Shumilo said.

According to him, there are more than 670 parishes across the European Union and the United Kingdom.

“However, given that various Russian cultural centres, foundations and schools also operate alongside these parishes, the total number of such organisations exceeds 1,000. Most importantly, many of these organisations operate either in close cooperation with Russian embassies or directly on properties belonging to Russian embassies and diplomatic missions abroad. For example, in the very centre of Paris, a large site belonging to the Russian diplomatic mission houses an entire complex of cultural, religious and diplomatic institutions. A church has been built there, an Orthodox cultural centre operates on the site, and a diplomatic office is also located there,” Shumilo noted.