Russia arrests two church figures over alleged Ukrainian plot to kill Putin-linked priest
The Hindu
FSB arrests two church figures for plotting to kill priest close to Putin on orders from Ukrainian intelligence.
Russia's FSB security service said on Friday (February 28, 2025) it had arrested two church figures suspected of plotting to kill a priest close to President Vladimir Putin on the instructions of Ukrainian intelligence.
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the allegation.
The alleged target was Tikhon Shevkunov, 66, whom Russian media have described for years as "Putin's confessor". He has maintained a public acquaintance with Putin since the late 1990s and the Kremlin has said the two men know each other well.
In 2023, Shevkunov was appointed to the senior church rank of metropolitan of Crimea, the peninsula which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
In a statement, the FSB said it had detained two men it said had been recruited by Ukrainian military intelligence on the Telegram messenger service in mid-2024. The FSB said it seized an improvised explosive device and two fake Ukrainian passports.
One of the men, Nikita Ivankovich, is a Russian cleric at a church in Moscow. The other, Denis Popovich, a Ukrainian born in the western city of Chernivtsi, worked as Shevkunov's assistant.
The authorities released videos of both men confessing to the plot. They spoke hesitantly and it was not clear under what circumstances the confessions had been obtained.
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