The Church of Sweden has issued an official warning to its congregations not to invite nuns from Belarus's St. Elisabeth Convent, citing the monastery's financial support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its connections to Russian military intelligence.
The warning comes as evidence mounts that Moscow-affiliated religious institutions function as nodes in Russia's war machine. The convent's spiritual leader, Archpriest Andrey Lemeshonok, has publicly declared that his monastery "is also a combat unit" whose nuns "fight for our future."
The language echoes the Russian Orthodox Church's March 2024 declaration of Russia's invasion as a "holy war." Since 2022, the ROC has emerged as a key Kremlin partner in war crimes, blessing military aggression, spreading propaganda, and facilitating the deportation of Ukrainian civilians.
Swedish Church identifies GRU ties and war financing
The warning specifically states that the convent's income supports Russia's invasion and that the monastery maintains close contacts with Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported.
"They support the Russian regime indirectly, and we don't want to contribute to that," said Lisa-Gun Bernerstedt, the head of civil preparedness at the Church of Sweden. The church estimates that 10-20 Swedish parishes may have collaborated with the convent over the years.
St. Elisabeth Convent denied supporting the invasion, claiming its funds go toward meals for the needy and elderly care.
"Our best guys" dying in Ukraine
The convent's founder Lemeshonok has repeatedly voiced support for Russia's war. In a Victory Day address documented by Christian Vision, he declared that "today war is again underway"—this time "with the same fascism, with godlessness and devilry." He called Russian soldiers dying in Ukraine "our best guys."
When Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka visited the convent in January 2023, he praised Lemeshonok's campaigns supporting Russian soldiers, according to Veridica.
A Buro Media investigation found the convent operates as an "Orthodox holding company" with approximately 1,600 employees across 12 churches, 70 shops, and more than 10 workshops.
The GRU connection dates to 2017, when Russian GRU lieutenant colonel Anton Manshin gave a talk at the convent promoting "Russian world" ideology while describing his participation in Russia's wars in Chechnya, Ukraine, and Syria, according to Belarusian independent newspaper Nasha Niva.
Pattern of European expulsions
Sweden joins a growing list of European countries pushing back against the convent's fundraising operations. In December 2024, Belarusian diaspora protesters in Szczecin, Poland, held banners reading "Buying here you support Russian aggression against Ukraine" outside the convent's Christmas market stand, leading to its closure, Veridica reported.
In 2022, Winchester Cathedral in England suspended the convent's Christmas market stall over concerns about pro-Russian views among its leadership, particularly Archpriest Andrey Lemeshonok, according to Global Sisters Report.
The Church of Sweden's warning marks the first formal institutional advisory against the convent's operations in Scandinavia.
