Russian propaganda has always been aimed at taking control of the whole of Mount Athos.

This was stated in an interview with LF by Bartholomew, the abbot of the Esphigmenou Monastery.

According to him, Russian expansionist ambitions toward the Holy Mountain have been stopped every time.

“Russian propaganda has always been aimed at taking over the whole of Mount Athos. But the Athonite monks built a defensive wall. By the providence of the Mother of God, or through the prayers of the Athonite fathers, these expansionist ambitions, which the Russians have always harbored toward the Holy Mountain, were stopped every time,” the abbot said.

He stressed that today the Holy Mountain has no connection with Russia. It is a spiritual territory under the canonical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. “And when Russia wages a struggle against the Ecumenical Patriarchate by every possible means, it is also waging a struggle against us,” the monk emphasized.

He also said that when the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church instructed Russian pilgrims not to travel to the Holy Mountain. He said that they had their own monasteries in Russia, where they should pray and leave their money. After all, the only thing that truly interests them is money.

“Of course, Russians are allowed to come to the Holy Mountain, but they may visit only the Russian monastery and receive Holy Communion only there.

In reality, Russia does not value the Holy Mountain at all. It uses it solely to maintain its influence in the world. Yet even the most basic look at history shows that Russia has not achieved this and never will,” Abbot Bartholomew said.