Sweden has opened up a survey of the Russian Orthodox Church in the town of Vestels over possible links to the Kremlin’s hybrid tank technology.
An investigation by Outlet France24 revealed that the symbols of the Kazan Church of the Mother of God could be used for spying.
Located just 300 metres from Stockholm Vaster Airport, it elicited scrutiny from local governments and security services about its relationship with the Russian intelligence reporting agency.
SAPO, Swedish domestic security agency, believes the church is being used as a platform for intelligence reporting groups and other hostile activities.
Strategic location of the Russian Church in Sweden
Stockholm Waster Airport, also known as Hässlöflygplats, is a small international airport that served as a base for the Swedish Air Force until 1983.
Following Sweden’s NATO membership in 2024, the airport became a strategic military hub, holding regular exercises for the alliance.
Control Tower Head Andreas Naikvist told French 24 journalists it was not a normal situation for Russian churches to be located near the airport.
“There’s nothing normal about churches near the airport,” explained Naikvist.
Västerås is also located at the edge of Lake Mälaren, a strategically sensitive corridor connecting the Swedish centre with the Baltic Sea, with several important bridges crossing the important waterways here.
Sapo previously tried to halt the construction of the church, citing security risks. However, the project proceeded regardless of previous regulations.
The church spire is 22 meters tall, but local zoning plans indicate that it is not expected to exceed 10 meters due to its proximity to sensitive infrastructure (the airport).
Who is in charge of Vestes Church?
When the Vester Church was consecrated in November 2023, Russian and Belarusian diplomats attended the ceremony.
One of them, Vladimir Liapin, was exposed as a Russian spy by a Swedish investigative journalist.
Two weeks later, SAPO issued a public warning that Swedish Moscow patriarchy was supporting Russia’s intelligence reporting efforts and receiving important state funds.
Local governments are currently considering unprecedented steps to expropriating buildings, citing national security concerns.
Additionally, attention is paid to Father Pavel McCarenko, a parish priest of a Vastelian church.
The investigation revealed that for several years, Makarenko, a bystander of his religious duties, served as CEO of Russian-owned export company NC Nordic Control AB.
The job and his corporate career ended abruptly in 2021 when the Stockholm District Court convicted him of exacerbating accounting fraud by presenting fake bills for companies in Russia and Belarus.
Denied the charge, Makarenko lost her appeal, but was given six months of prison, 160 hours of community service and a three-year business ban.
Russian Church in Europe
According to a report from the Morphar Institute, a Ukrainian company that provides open source intelligence services, Russian Orthodox churches can strategically position European churches near important facilities by utilizing European churches.
The OSINT agency conducted open source studies analyzing 11 countries, including Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
The agency also specifically analyzed Vestes’ church, claiming that the construction was funded by Rosatom, the Russian state Atomic Energy Corporation.
In particular, the Westin House Electric Factory in Sweden, which produces nuclear fuel assemblies, is about 5 km away from the Russian Church.
Morpher’s research also globalized the Russian churches of Bryn, Oslo and Kilkens in Norway. In Trondheim, for example, the Russian church is about 1 kilometre from the Air Force Academy and less than 1 kilometre from the submarine bunker.
In some countries, authorities have shut down Russian churches due to security concerns.
In Finland, the Russian Church of Turk was located very close to the coastal fleet. Authorities closed it in August 2022 after a full-scale invasion of Russia’s Ukraine.
In 2023, Bulgarian authorities expelled the head of the country’s Russian church for what they called “the threat to national security.”
Archimandrite Vasian, who headed the Russian Orthodox Church in the country, was accused of spying***. ***
