The security forces conducted a search in the cell of Kuban theologian Viktor Pivovarov, who had previously been fined under the article of “discrediting” the army because of a sermon in the church. This was reported by Novaya Gazeta Europe with reference to one of the clergy of the South Russian Diocese.
What criminal case the investigative actions may be connected with and what status Pivovarov is in is still unknown. The searches are associated with the priest's anti-war statements. The interlocutor of Novaya Gazeta Europe said that the security forces came on October 5, but the assistant to the archbishop, Hieromonk Jonah, told the NeMoskva Speaks correspondent about October 3.
“I opened it, they abruptly took me inside, threw me to the ground, and tripped me. Face to the floor in an extremely aggressive manner. They burst in with machine guns, in camouflage, and balaclavas. SOBR. Straight into the temple with machine guns, like the military. They twist me on the floor, put their knee on my back, so that I’m suffocating,” he said.
After the search, the archbishop was detained and taken away for interrogation. The Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that he was later released.
Journalists drew attention to two wires published on the website of the South Russian Diocese. One of them, dated July 3, belongs to Pivovarov. It mentions the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Vladimir Putin, and also criticizes the cooperation of the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church with the special services.
The second sermon, entitled “The Cult of War,” was posted on September 26, signed by Hieromonk Jonah. “The cult of war is an integral part of all totalitarian anti-human regimes… Madness and worship of the god of war is not just temporary insanity, but the beginning of a future of even greater psychosis and military madness,” the text said.
In March of this year Pivovarov was fined 40 thousand rubles under the article on “discrediting” the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). The reason for the protocol was a sermon. A denunciation of the priest was written by a parishioner who had not previously visited the temple. “He runs out and says as he goes: your sermon is political, and big problems await you,” the archbishop recalled.
Viktor Pivovarov is a figure in non-canonical Orthodoxy, Archbishop of the Slavic and South Russian Orthodox Church (RosOC). RosOC is a former part of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), which broke away from it in 2001.