The Swedish church at the centre of a Russian spy drama

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 beside Västerås 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 is "something unwelcoming" about its reflective, dark-tinted windows that "make it hard to glimpse inside". Then there is the "high steel fence", security cameras and "no trespassing!" sign. A local told reporters that the church "doesn't seem to host many church activities apart from the two weekly services".

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Potential threat

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. When Sweden's defence forces undertake exercises at the airport, they do so "under possible surveillance from the church", Markus Göransson, a researcher focusing on Russia at the Swedish Defence University, told the outlet.

Almost a neighbour of a strategically important airport, the church is also close to a water treatment works, several energy companies and a major motorway linking Stockholm to Norway.

Neither the Russian Embassy in Stockholm nor the church in Västerås responded to emailed requests for comment.

Active tool

This is far from the first time the Russian Orthodox Church has been accused of acting as the eyes and ears of the Kremlin overseas. It is 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 a Russian Orthodox church in a small Czech spa town was being used by Russian 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 organisation", it's an "active tool" of Russian government "soft power".