Russian agents in Cyprus have long begun their work to spin propaganda among those entitled to vote in the elections of the Archbishop of Cyprus, the head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church. The Russian forces are betting on two candidates at once, and in case of their “failure” they are going to blackmail the Cypriots by creating an “exarchate” of the Russian Orthodox Church similar to the one set up in Africa.
The SFU received the relevant information from local sources familiar with the said processes.
“Now, in all Russian churches in Cyprus, Russian priests are campaigning for pro-Moscow candidates. And this does not concern Russians, but Cypriots, Russian wives of Cypriots who have been living here for a long time with Cypriot passports. They will take part in the elections. This is a significant human resource. These Russian votes can strongly sway the scales in one direction or another,” the sources say.
Foreigners, of whom there are now many in Cyprus, will not participate in this election of the Archbishop of Cyprus. The vast majority of foreigners who do not hold Cypriot passports, but live here, formally are not entitled to participate in elections, unless they have lived for more than 12 months there. In many ways, this was done due to fears that this colossal resource would be used by a pro-Russian candidate.
“Now Russian assets in Cyprus are desperately trying to reach out to as many people as possible – be it Russian women, Moldovan women living here and married to Cypriots, also Cypriots who work for the Russians… Propaganda and agitation are especially strong when targeting them,” sources explain.
According to their data, a representative of Metropolitan Antoniy (Sevryuk), who heads the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, has been deployed in Cyprus.
“He is constantly in touch with him, he often calls him. Antoniy Sevryuk gives him instructions on who to go to, what to say, also some financial flows passed through him. Sevryuk is an agent of the Russian intelligence. No wonder, they all have KGB epaulettes sticking out from under their priest robes. He knows Orthodox worship so poorly that he can’t even do this by himself. That’s because he has other tasks and assignments to fulfill. He never learned the church rite properly,” sources say.
According to their information, discussions on the creation of a Turkish-Cypriot “exarchate” are ongoing in Moscow. Moreover, there is already a parish of the ROC abroad in the northern, temporarily occupied part of Cyprus.
“If it is not possible to create a Turkish exarchate, then they will try to create an exarchate in northern Cyprus. This will be revenge on the Cypriot Orthodox Church for its pro-Ukrainian position. This is how they blackmail Cypriots. Cypriots do not want any church to create ‘exarchates’ following in the footsteps of the African ‘exarchate.’ If a candidate wins, whom Moscow, FSB, and the Russian Orthodox Church won’t be able to control, exploit or influence, they can in revenge create this ‘exarchate’ in the north of Cyprus and drag this parish under their auspices,” sources emphasize.
It is no coincidence that the Russian ambassador to Cyprus is the former president of Ingushetia, Murat Zyazikov.
“Russia is an Orthodox country, which many Cypriots consider a fraternal Orthodox nation. And suddenly a Muslim with close ties to Turkey, a KGB guy, an FSB general is deployed here as an ambassador. This is basically a spit in the face of the Cypriots for their ‘bad’ behavior during the discussion of sanctions, their vote for sanctions,” the source says.
This Sunday, December 18, voters, namely the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus and the faithful of the Orthodox Church, will elect three candidate hierarchs for the position of head of the Church of Cyprus.
On Saturday, December 17, a solemn 40-day memorial service was held for the repose of the soul of Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, who rested in the Lord on November 7 at the age of 81.
The adviser to the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Kyiv, Patrick Panasyuk, called the election of the archbishop of Cyprus a unique “archbishop campaign” in the scope of world Orthodoxy.
