Swedish intelligence services believe that one of the country's Russian Orthodox churches could be a base for spying. Almost everything about the "onion-domed" church next to Vasteras Airport, about an hour from Stockholm, "seems odd," said France 24. The Church of the Holy Mother of God of Kazan is "spectacular," but there's "something unwelcoming" about its reflective dark-tinted windows that "make it hard to glimpse inside."
To an increasingly "vocal group of critics," the church is seen as a "potential threat" to Sweden's national security due to its "sensitive location," said Politico. It's close to a strategically important airport, water treatment works, several energy companies, and a major motorway linking Stockholm to Norway. Neither the Russian Embassy in Stockholm nor the church has responded to the claims.
This is not the first time that the Russian Orthodox Church has been accused of acting as the eyes and ears of the Kremlin overseas. It's emerging as a "potential conduit" for Moscow's "covert actions" abroad, said Politico.
In 2022, Ukrainian security forces raided a monastery in Kyiv to disrupt the "intelligence operations" they claimed were based there. The following year, Bulgaria expelled three priests employed by the Russian Orthodox Church, citing national security concerns. Then, in April of this year, Czech intelligence services claimed that a Russian Orthodox church in a small Czech spa town was being used by Moscow's agents for "covert meetings" and "influence operations" aimed at "destabilising" the EU, said Euractiv.
Authorities in a growing number of countries are turning a "critical eye" toward the presence of the Russian Orthodox church, said Radio Free Europe. It's suspected that rather than being an "exclusively religious, spiritual organization," it's an "active tool" of the Russian government's "soft power." | 
