At first glance, the sisters from the St. Elizabeth Monastery seemed the picture of innocence. Around Christmas, they were selling icons, crafts, and souvenirs to the faithful in Swedish churches, without arousing suspicion. Even in Täby, a prosperous suburb near Stockholm, their presence raised no questions: the rector had personally given them permission to set up their tables in the church hall.
However, in a Europe confronted with Russia’s hybrid war, appearances can be deceiving.
As the Church of Sweden would later warn, the women presented as “nuns” were, in fact, representatives of a controversial monastery in Belarus, known for supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and for its ties with the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service.
In a short time, the Swedish press was flooded with headlines about “Putin’s spy nuns,” infiltrated in up to 20 churches in Sweden. And the head of the parish in Täby found himself accused of having his parishioners unknowingly contribute to the financing of the Kremlin’s war machine, writes The Telegraph.
Churches, the new front of the hybrid war
Beyond the sensationalism of the story, the case reveals a deeper reality: Swedish churches – among the most open and hospitable in Europe – have become a target for Russian propaganda.
One of Moscow’s objectives is to create the impression that pro-Kremlin values are accepted and even admired in NATO states. The presence of the Belarusian “nuns” in Western churches perfectly serves this narrative.
The strategy is not a new one. In recent years, the Russian Orthodox Church has tried to gain access to Swedish places of worship located near military bases and airports – a coincidence that has caught the attention of security services.
Details, HERE