Rosatom funded it. You can see the country's largest airport from there. How did this happen?
On November 11, the Politico portal wrote about the concerns of Swedish authorities caused by the Russian Orthodox church in the suburb of Västerås. This is because the temple was located directly next to Stockholm-Västerås Airport (Hässlö, VST) and essential energy infrastructure facilities.
Vot Tak, a Russian-language project of Belsat TV, investigated the activities of the parish and discovered that it was a center of support for forces helping Russia's invasion of Ukraine and that its pastor had a criminal past.
Guests from the "Russian world"
On November 4, 2023, an important event for the local Orthodox community took place in Västerås - the consecration of the recently built church dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The ceremony was personally blessed by Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and conducted by the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Orthodox Church Relations, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, known for justifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The ceremony, which took place on Russian National Unity Day, was also attended by other important guests. They included Counselor of the Embassy of Russia in Sweden V. Labin (the post does not give his name) and Belarusian Ambassador Dmitry Mironchik.
The service was also attended by a delegation of Russian Cossacks living in the Union, led by Andrei Shestakov, ataman of the Finland Yurt [a yurt is the lowest administrative and territorial unit in the structure of the Donsko Cossacks]. He decorated the clergy and diplomats present with the order "Emperor Nicholas II" - established on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Tsar's birth and 100th anniversary of his death by the Convoy of the Memory of Emperor Nicholas II, a St. Petersburg-based monarchist Orthodox organization.
Ataman Shestakov, who lives permanently in Finland, actively cooperates with the Russian embassy in Helsinki. On the occasion of Russian national holidays, he and other Cossacks have for years taken part in actions commemorating Red Army soldiers killed in World War II, participants in the Winter War, and the Soviet invasion of Finland. In May 2024, in an interview with the Kuban Segodnya portal, Shestakov complained about Western propaganda and lies about the war and promised not to obliterate historical memory in our children.
Even after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the ataman repeatedly came to Russia, where he met with students and military school students. He told the youth why and with whom the war in Ukraine is being fought, repeating the main theses of Russian propaganda. The media also reported on the assistance given by the ataman, who lives in Finland, to volunteers of the Cossack Don Brigade, formed in March 2022 and fighting in the Kherson region.
Pastor with a sentence
There are also dark pages in the biography of the pastor of the Orthodox parish in Västerås. From articles in media related to the Russian Orthodox Church, it is known that Pavel Makarenko was ordained in 2013. Before that, he was a believer in St. Sergius parish in Stockholm. Until 2017, he reconciled his priestly ministry with his duties as CEO of Nordic Control AB's export company.
During this time, the company attracted the interest of the Swedish Tax Service, which found multimillion-dollar violations in Nordic Control AB's documents. In 2020, a court found Makarenko guilty of being linked to a whole series of financial crimes.
The Orthodox businessman pleaded not guilty. Nevertheless, the court found the evidence incriminating and sentenced him to 160 hours of community service. As the crimes were committed long ago, Makarenko avoided six months in prison.
Orthodox church under FSB patronage
The Västerås parish itself was founded 20 years ago, in 2004. Since then, the faithful have met in a room rented from the Lutheran Church of Sweden. It began building its own church in the Hässlö district in 2019.
The church was built in the Russian tradition of wooden church construction - cross-shaped, log construction with a roof topped with five gilded domes. Its building cost 3.5 million euros. Journalists from the Swedish news portal VTL established that the company Nordic Control, whose CEO was Pastor Makarenko, had a connection to the construction.
Well-known Swedish investigative journalist Patrik Oksanen revealed that the developer responsible for the temple's construction had ties to both organized crime and the Federal Security Service. In doing so, most of the building materials were imported from Russia.
The website of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Church Relations says that the construction was carried out with the financial assistance of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage (FPChKiN), as well as donations from donors and parishioners.
FPChKiN is an organization funded by the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom. In December 2021, just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine's InformNapalm published an investigation proving that the Foundation has a branched structure and may be used by the Kremlin to exert hybrid influence, lobby and cover Russian financial operations abroad and that its leadership is linked to Russian special services.
In turn, Swedish services believe that Russian Orthodox Church parishes within the country may be cooperating with Russian intelligence. In March 2024, the Swedish Grants Agency decided not to support the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate further. The institution justified its decision based on information it had received from the secret service that Russia was using the Orthodox churches as platforms for intelligence gathering. The Swedish Security Police (SÄPO) also reported contacts between members of Orthodox communities and Russian services.
Nordic voyages of pro-war nuns
The website of the Västerås Orthodox parish also reports on cooperation with the St. Elisabeth Female Monastery in Minsk. This is a religious congregation actively - spiritually and materially - supporting the Russian army in Ukraine. In October 2024, Vot Tak revealed that the nuns had created an international business empire, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
In February 2023, a Swedish parish organized an Easter market at its home, with Minsk nuns as the main vendors. According to the advertising poster, all funds raised were to be donated to help orphans, the homeless, the lonely and the sick.
Vot Tak attempted to contact Pastor Pavel Makarenko and parishioners' council chairman Raisa Martin to ask them to comment on the situation around the church. However, he had not received a response by the time of publication.
Watchpoint
Journalists from the Swedish news portal VLT investigating the construction of an Orthodox church in Västerås were puzzled by the ease with which the parish received permission to erect a structure with a 22-meter-high tower only 200 meters from a strategic facility.
Stockholm-Västerås Civil Airport was originally built as a Swedish military aviation base, and to this day, its runways remain the longest in the country. This allows them to accommodate the heaviest military transport aircraft. In the event of a war with Russia, the civilian airport could quickly be converted to military use, and the city would then become one of NATO's key logistics hubs over the Baltic.
The location of the Orthodox church makes it an ideal vantage point for keeping track of the situation in the airport area, where military aviation exercises are periodically held even now. According to Swedish military analyst Markus Göransson, interviewed by the Politico portal, facilities not far from the church are essential to the Swedish energy sector, which could interest Russian intelligence. Västerås is home to the Swedish headquarters of ABB, which is involved in energy, robotics and other high technologies, Alstom (transportation), NKT (a Danish cable and fiber optics company) or Prevas (IT). Scandinavia's largest inland port is also located here. The most important, however, is undoubtedly the airport in the Hässlö district.
Ivan Lysiuk / vot-tak.tv, pj, urs / belsat.eu
