Russian Church buys property close to Norwegian naval base

In the desolated prayer house in Bergen, there seems to be no one present. In the windows are crosses, lanterns and other religious relics visible, reports Dagbladet Bergen. Through the basement windows, a simple meeting room can be seen with white plastic tablecloths on the tables. Books on the shelves. In a corner, there are children's toys. But on the main floor, all the windows are covered by thick curtains.

Before the Russian congregation bought the house at Haakonsvern, they gathered in the city centre. Now, they have a building close to Norway's most important naval base. Their view on the base is "uncomfortably good", says a security expert.

Dagbladet Bergen reports that the congregation in Bergen is not the only Russian parish to buy real estate in the vicinity of strategically important objects. For example, in Stavanger, a former leader of the local Russian Orthodox congregation owns a property near the NATO Joint War Center on Jåttå. The home is located one kilometre from the important military facility and about fifteen minutes walk away.

Relationship

Alfa Sefland Winge researches socially critical infrastructure and preparedness at the Naval Academy. She says to Dagbladet Bergen that Russian-owned properties such as Haakonsvern can be a problem. "There may be a possibility that such buildings are used for something other than religious purposes. But I have no basis for saying that it happens here." However, she wonders why the Church moved from the city centre to a less central place close to the naval base.

Researcher and Russia expert Pål Kolstø at the University of Oslo says to Dagbladet Bergen that the Church and its powerful leader, Patriarch Kirill, are known to be close to President Putin and the Kremlin. However, Kolstø emphasizes that the relationship is somewhat more complicated and that at times there have also been conflicts between Patriarch Kirill and Putin. But in connection with the war in Ukraine, he has stood shoulder to shoulder with the authorities and supported the invasion. "The Russian Orthodox Patriarch in Moscow and the Bishop in Murmansk support Putin and have spoken out in favour of the war, with rather disturbing statements. It is clear that the Church in Bergen is subject to the Moscow Patriarchate."

Ukrainian

A priest at Christ's Revelation Congregation in Bergen, Father Dmytro Ostanin, has responded to Dagbladet's inquiry into the matter. "There is absolutely no danger from our Church. First and foremost because I myself am Ukrainian. And I curse this war that Russia has unleashed against my fatherland. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are refugees here in Norway. I write and scream these words. My relatives and my wife's relatives are still on fire, under bombing", Ostanin writes in an email.