Krasnodar: Church Court bans pacifist priest from serving

The Church Court of the Ekaterinodar and Kuban Diocese has banned Archpriest Andrei Drugai from priestly service; Andrei left his parish due to disagreement with the position of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) on the issue of the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine.

In Krasnodar, the above Church Court has concluded that Archpriest Andrei Drugai left the Diocese without permission, the human rights project "OVD-Info"* has informed.

The Court has stated that the priest was summoned there four times, but never appeared.

Father Drugai himself said that the reason for his resignation was in his disagreement with the ROC's position on the issue of the SMO in Ukraine and in his signature to a letter in support of the defrocked Moscow Archpriest Alexei Uminsky, who also opposed the SMO. Drugai has stated that he was outraged by what happened to Alexei Navalny.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that Victor (Pivovarov), a ROC's Archbishop, was accused within a criminal case of discrediting the Russian Army. The reason for initiating the case was in Victor's article condemning the SMO in Ukraine. On April 8, 2024, he was fined by 150,000 roubles.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.