Spy Fears Swirl Around Russian Church Near Swedish NATO Airfield

A Russian Orthodox church near Sweden’s Vasteras airport has raised red flags among intelligence officials, who suspect it is being used as a platform for espionage, The Gaze reports, citing France24.

The Church of the Holy Mother of God of Kazan — complete with onion domes, security cameras, and a 22-meter spire that exceeds local zoning limits — sits just 300 meters from the strategically important Stockholm-Vasteras (VST) airport, now a NATO hub.

Swedish authorities, including the domestic security agency SAPO, have warned that the Kremlin-aligned Moscow Patriarchate is being used by Russia for intelligence gathering and “other activities threatening national security.” 

In late 2023, SAPO declared the Patriarchate’s Sweden-based branch had direct contact with Russian intelligence services and received funding from the Russian state.

Security expert Patrik Oksanen said, “It is an integral part of the power apparatus and the Kremlin’s exercise of power.” 

The Patriarchate, he said, spreads influence abroad by establishing NGOs and building churches, as seen across Ukraine, where some religious sites have reportedly been used to store weapons and shelter Russian saboteurs.

Locals describe the church as mysterious and closed off. “You’d think a church would be open to everyone, but there’s fencing all around it,” a neighbor told reporters.  “Last time I came here, I just saw a man walking around inside [the fenced grounds] with a guard dog.”

The church’s priest, Father Pavel Makarenko, has largely vanished from public view after facing scrutiny over links to Russian intelligence and a 2021 conviction in Sweden for accounting fraud tied to fake Russian and Belarusian business invoices. 

Still, he appeared at the church’s inauguration in November 2023, where he was reportedly awarded a medal for “good service” by Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, the SVR.

“It is not uncommon for the Russian security service to reward people who have helped the service [in some way] with this kind of medal,” said SAPO spokesperson Gabriel Wernstedt.

Funding for the $3.2 million project came in part from a Russian state-linked foundation run by Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear agency. 

Guests at the church’s grand opening included top clergy and diplomats — among them, Metropolitan Anton of Volokolamsk and a Russian embassy official later identified by Swedish media as a spy.

Sweden has since cut all public funding to churches affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate. “They hadn’t told us the whole truth,” said Isak Reichel, the director of the Swedish agency for faith communities.

Read more on The Gaze: Estonia Passes Law to Curb Russian Church Threat to Security