Russian priest known as Putin's "confessor" hit by EU sanctions

The European Union imposed sanctions connected much than 80 radical and entities implicit Moscow's war successful Ukraine Monday, including an Orthodox clergyman described successful Russia arsenic President Vladimir Putin's "confessor."

Georgiy Shevkunov, besides known arsenic Metropolitan Tikhon, a elder bishop successful the Russian Orthodox Church, was targeted for "spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation" aimed astatine justifying the penetration of Ukraine, the bloc said successful a statement.

Often referred to successful Russian media arsenic Putin's "personal priest" and "confessor" — a assertion helium has neither confirmed nor denied — Shevkunov was named Metropolitan of Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia illegally annexed successful 2014, successful 2023.

In February past year, Russia's FSB information work said it had arrested 2 radical aft thwarting a Ukrainian-ordered crippled to termination the prelate.

The bishop was among 34 individuals and 47 entities that EU countries added to a Russia sanctions database Monday.

"We approved different batch of sanctions to enactment much unit connected Russia to extremity the war," said the EU's overseas argumentation chief, Kaja Kallas. "These measures onslaught astatine the bosom of Russia's military-industrial complex, its shadiness fleet, and the networks that substance Moscow's hybrid attacks against Europe."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, left, and Metropolitan Tikhon (Georgiy Shevkunov) sojourn the Orthodox Russia Exhibition astatine the Manezh Exhibition Hall successful Moscow, connected Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.  Gavriil Grigorov / AP

Western sanctions person already outgo Russia implicit $1 trillion, Kallas said.

"Brick by brick, we are collapsing the foundations of Russia's warfare economy," she said.

The sanctions deed individuals and organizations progressive successful the manufacturing and proviso of drones and different subject instrumentality to Russian forces.

Alleged Russian propagandists, including a societal media influencer identified arsenic Alexandra Jost, arsenic good arsenic firms and radical helping Russia money its warfare via the shipment and export of lipid were besides targeted.

So were 15 radical including judges, prosecutors and instrumentality enforcement officials allegedly progressive successful the poisoning of murdered absorption fig Alexei Navalny.

The sanctions see plus freezes, question bans and a prohibition to marque immoderate funds disposable to those blacklisted.

"Every measurement shrinks Russia's country for maneuver," Kallas said.

The sanctions were announced connected the aforesaid time that Russia fired a barrage of missiles astatine respective large Ukrainian cities, sidesplitting astatine slightest 11 radical and sparking a blaze astatine 1 of the astir important Orthodox monasteries.

In effect to the assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for much unit connected Moscow from G7 leaders who were gathering astatine a acme successful France acceptable to beryllium dominated by the U.S.-Iranian deal to extremity the war.

Russia's February 2022 penetration of Ukraine has turned into Europe's worst struggle since World War II, with thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops killed.

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