Father Sergei’s lawyers are adamant that he will appeal the sentence of 3 and a half years in prison.
Russian Orthodox monk Father Sergius, who was arrested in December 2020 for preaching to believers to “die for Russia,” was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for inciting suicide, Euronews reported.
Father Sergius, who regularly criticizes the Kremlin, has denied the allegations, with his lawyers saying he will appeal the sentence.
The 66-year-old man has always denied the existence of the coronavirus and regularly condemns the Russian government’s efforts to stop the spread of the infection.
Father Sergius is also known for regularly spreading conspiracy theories, including the claim that COVID-19 vaccines are part of a global conspiracy to control humanity through microchips in vaccines.
The monk urged his followers to disregard restrictions on the spread of the virus, meanwhile barricading himself in a monastery near Ekaterinburg with dozens of supporters.
He was arrested last year at the monastery after a special night operation by riot police and security forces.
The Russian Orthodox Church deprived Father Sergius of the abbot’s rank for violating monastic rules and later excommunicated him, but he rejected the decisions and ignored the summonses of police investigators.
The church in Russia had long postponed action against the conspiratorial priest because of the broad support he enjoyed, but he was eventually excommunicated.
Father Sergiy – born Nikolai Romanov – previously served as a Soviet policeman, but was later sentenced to 14 years in prison for murder, robbery and assault. After his release he entered a church school and later became a monk.
Tec Sergei is a well-known name in Russia, but it is being talked about more and more abroad, while not only the Russian Orthodox Church but also President Putin himself is wondering how to deal with the rebellious priest.
His full name is Sergei Romanov, and he takes his surname from the Romanov dynasty – the last tsarist family in Russia.
At home, he is known for his ultra-conservative views and, more recently, for his excommunication from the Church.
Father Sergei, for example, openly and vehemently criticizes the laws to protect women from domestic violence because he believes that a man has the right to re-educate his wife as he sees fit. The priest also believes that anti-Semitism is a criminal ideology and that Jews should be persecuted and annihilated.
He has a police career behind him, as well as 13 years in prison for murder – accusations that he vehemently denies are true.
However, the reason for his excommunication from the church was not his dark past, his scandalous views or hatred of women, but the fact that Sergei flatly refused to believe in the existence of the coronavirus and to comply with the imposed anti-epidemic measures.
In April, in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19, the Kremlin decided to close churches to believers because it turned out that many priests were infected with the new coronavirus. Father Sergei remains adamant that we are witnessing a “pseudo-pandemic” and that what is happening is the work of the antichrist.
He went so far as to accuse Russian Patriarch Kirill of betraying the faith and serving the devil because he agreed with Moscow’s regulations for temples to temporarily close their doors to visitors.
The answer was not long in coming, and Father Sergei was excommunicated from the Church with a ban on preaching more.
The excommunication further infuriated the priest, and he shared a video on social media criticizing the Russian synod for its fear of the virus and possible death from the disease.
The priest says that the Church is led by doctors instead of the patriarch, and believers are forced to worship infidels.
Subsequently, despite threats that he could be the subject of a police investigation, the father recorded another video in which he explained his prophecy – soon a new orthodox king will appear on Russian soil, who will conquer Russia and rule by faith.
The priest went so far as to turn to Vladimir Putin with a request to hand over power to him and with the promise that he would restore order in the country in three days. This video already has over 128,000 views and predominant thumbs-up reactions on the YouTube platform.
In the same video, Father Sergei says that if his demands are not met, he will declare a “spiritual war” on Putin.
As crazy as the priest may sound, he may find himself with a fairly stable army of supporters behind him.
At the beginning of the new century, with his help, the monastery in the Middle Urals was founded – a monastery that quickly became a favorite place for believing Russians. Over the years, thousands of orthodox Christians flock there, most of them there, just to hear Father Sergei’s sermons.
The father’s views on the rights of women and minorities do not deny his supporters, on the contrary – his popularity is growing more and more. Meanwhile, a number of celebrities, famous Russian athletes and even the former prosecutor of Crimea – Natalia Poklonskaya – come to confession to the priest.
Evidence of how many followers Father Sergei has is the peculiar protection of his monastery, which is located near Ekaterinburg. She represents a large group of young men who watch over the monastery, dressed in Cossack uniforms and posing as guardians of the authentic faith.
The volunteer detachments allow only believers and send away in a rather rude way journalists and reporters who are trying to find out more about Father Sergei. All of them have gone through a special ritual of baptism, which only the priest in question performs and which consists in pouring buckets of ice water on the new converts to drive away the demons.
The boys in Cossack clothes look ready for a fight with anyone who dares to come into conflict with them, including the police.
In addition, under the control of Father Sergei are three other Russian monasteries in the Sverdlovsk region, which he treats as his personal property. He enjoys the support and approval of most monks, nuns and clergy, and they side with him in his conflict with the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church.
How will the dynamic fate of Father Sergei, who started as a police officer, went through prison and reached the position of one of the most popular priests in Russia, end? It is not clear yet, but it is possible that he will follow the Siberian shaman Alexei Gabishev.
Gabishev launched several campaigns to remove Putin, until he was finally detained on remand and forced to undergo psychotherapy.
