LDS Leader Detained For "Financing Terrorism"

[smac97]

LDS Leader Detained For "Financing Terrorism"

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On August 6, the Russian media reported that a local head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Vyborg, or Mormon Church, was detained for "financing terrorism."

FYI, "Vyborg" is a city in Russia.

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The cleric had, five years ago, donated to the late Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Navalny

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was a Russian opposition leader,^[1][2] anti-corruption activist and political prisoner.^[3] He founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in 2011. He was recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience and was awarded the Sakharov Prize for his work on human rights.

Through his social media accounts, Navalny and his team published material about corruption in Russia, organised political demonstrations and promoted his campaigns. In a 2011 interview, he described Russia's ruling party, United Russia, as a "party of crooks and thieves", which became a popular byname. Navalny and the FBK have published investigations detailing alleged corruption by high-ranking Russian officials and their associates.

He died in prison in 2024.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation ("NBK") :

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The Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF; Russian: Фонд борьбы с коррупцией (ФБК), romanized: Fond borby s korruptsiyey, FBK; lit. 'Foundation for combating corruption') is a non-profit organisation established in 2011 by the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The FBK published investigations into alleged corruption by high-ranking Russian government officials.^[2] The organisation is funded by private donations.^[3]

On 9 October 2019, the FBK was declared a "foreign agent" by the Russian Ministry of Justice.^[4][5] On 9 June 2021, the FBK was designated as an "extremist" organisation and liquidated by the Moscow City Court.^[6][7] On 11 July 2022, while imprisoned, Navalny announced the relaunch of the FBK as an international organisation.^[8] On 27 November 2025, the Russian Supreme Court designated the FBK as a "terrorist organisation".^[9]

The European Court of Human Rights and Amnesty International have condemned the Russian Federation's legal actions against ACF and Alexei Navalny, like the designations as "foreign agent", "extremist" and "terrorist", deeming them as politically motivated trial and political and unlawful persecutions.^[10][11]

More context on the designation of FBK as a terrorist organization seems 

Back to the article:

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Members of the FSB, the Economic Police, and regiment members of the Ministry of Interior detained the 74-year-old leader of in his home. The Leningrad Oblast and St. Petersburg police departments released footage of the raid on their Telegram channels. 

I tried to watch the video.  Could not get it to work.

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In the video, the church leader said he donated money to Navalny's organization before it was legally declared "extremist." He said, "This was long ago. This was also when Navalny was alive, when he was just starting to develop." The man also claimed he "accidentally pressed the button 'provide help'" and transferred money to the fund.

In the video published by the St. Petersburg Police Department, the Ministry of Interior forces are also seen raiding the Vyborg LDS Church. Its leader is listed as Valentin Gavrilov. A decision is still pending on whether the LDS cleric will face pre-trial detention.

Looks like Br. Gavrilov is a Branch President.

The poor man is 74 years old.  

I wonder if this will have a larger impact on the Church in Russia.

Thanks,

-Smac

[BlipBlap]

Not at all surprising given that we're a religion stemming from the US.

[Calm]

51 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

Not at all surprising given that we're a religion stemming from the US.

We have never been popular with the Russia government.  We were over in Moscow during the elections where one candidate included us in his list of religions to be banned. The guy was a jerk anyway so didn’t hurt my feelings. 😛 

Treatment of Saints by government qualifies as outright persecution.  

When we were there in 93 and 95, there was active hate and refusal to interact with Americans (we put Canadian flags on everything, legit since we lived in Canada at the time even if American citizens). Elders*** were often followed by gangs and one pair told us the “hooligans” (what the locals called the juvenile gangs with nothing better to do besides harass passersby) actually attacked them.  Nothing major but I was grateful my son didn’t end up there like I thought might happen because if his stays there and interactions with Russians over the years through family.  Didn’t help one of my husband’s friends was assassinated by mafia backed by the Moscow mayor and my in laws were warned by the US gov they would not be able to be protected once they got threatened when they tried to resist their travel company being grabbed by the mafia (they walked away from it).

I don’t know how the ones on the street feel about Americans these days. They might have hated us, but they were wanting to consume anything they could get from Hollywood, our music, etc, so I wonder if that opened to more positive feelings outside the government.  

I admire any Russian Saint who stays active in the faith.  
 

***we were told “elder” implies something like “magician” in Russian, so old women were always make a protection sign when they saw the elders coming.  Never double-checked that.

They also got spat on a lot.  Typically they laughed it off, but they did take refuge at our place once when a gang was following them a little too aggressively.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_sign

I wonder if this is what they meant, only a dark version:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starets

Edited Tuesday at 04:57 AM by Calm

[BlipBlap]

3 hours ago, Calm said:

We have never been popular with the Russia government.  We were over in Moscow during the elections where one candidate included us in his list of religions to be banned. The guy was a jerk anyway so didn’t hurt my feelings. 😛 

Treatment of Saints by government qualifies as outright persecution.  

When we were there in 93 and 95, there was active hate and refusal to interact with Americans (we put Canadian flags on everything, legit since we lived in Canada at the time even if American citizens). Elders*** were often followed by gangs and one pair told us the “hooligans” (what the locals called the juvenile gangs with nothing better to do besides harass passersby) actually attacked them.  Nothing major but I was grateful my son didn’t end up there like I thought might happen because if his stays there and interactions with Russians over the years through family.  Didn’t help one of my husband’s friends was assassinated by mafia backed by the Moscow mayor and my in laws were warned by the US gov they would not be able to be protected once they got threatened when they tried to resist their travel company being grabbed by the mafia (they walked away from it).

I don’t know how the ones on the street feel about Americans these days. They might have hated us, but they were wanting to consume anything they could get from Hollywood, our music, etc, so I wonder if that opened to more positive feelings outside the government.  

I admire any Russian Saint who stays active in the faith.  
 

***we were told “elder” implies something like “magician” in Russian, so old women were always make a protection sign when they saw the elders coming.  Never double-checked that.

They also got spat on a lot.  Typically they laughed it off, but they did take refuge at our place once when a gang was following them a little too aggressively.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_sign

I wonder if this is what they meant, only a dark version:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starets

It probably doesn't help that the Russian Orthodox church is essentially an arm of the government.

[Stargazer]

My stake president served his mission in Russia, but not near where this occurred. He spent most of his time in Siberia. 

[smac97]

On 8/10/2026 at 10:50 PM, Calm said:

***we were told “elder” implies something like “magician” in Russian, so old women were always make a protection sign when they saw the elders coming.  Never double-checked that.

The Russian word for "Elder" is Старейшина (Stareyshina).  I've never heard of it having any connotation along the lines of "magician."

I think Russians view us as an "American" church, and therefore bad or suspect.  Given the sociocultural influence of the Russian Orthodox Church...

Thanks,

-Smac

[Calm]

1 hour ago, smac97 said:

The Russian word for "Elder" is Старейшина (Stareyshina).  I've never heard of it having any connotation along the lines of "magician."

I think Russians view us as an "American" church, and therefore bad or suspect.  Given the sociocultural influence of the Russian Orthodox Church...

Thanks,

-Smac

It has the connotation of wise spiritual leader according to wiki (I checked after I posted, but forgot to add that.  Not surprising it got misinterpreted for them, maybe someone thought wizard meant wise one….or maybe a Russian was teasing them or maybe it was wishful thinking by an elder that wanted something besides religious and national prejudice to explain the evil eye signs and harassment.  Just being obviously Americans preaching an American faith (in Russians’ view) was more than enough to explain that behaviour from my own experience.

Edited 8 hours ago by Calm

[Calm]

8 minutes ago, Calm said:

Stareyshina

Google says that’s a liquor. (Added: Chat agrees with you)

This is what it gave me 

старший

starshiy

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/старший

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ста́рший • (stáršij) (comparative (по)ста́рше, superlative са́мый ста́рший, abstract noun старшинство́)

1. elder, older, senior
2. eldest, oldest
3. higher, highest
4. (military) first (lieutenant)
5. senior (suffix used for names of elders)

 

Chat gave a different word last night.  I will see if I can find it.

added:  here’s the appraisal of the claim by Chat:

”The usual Russian LDS translation of Elder is старейшина (stareyshina). The ordinary Russian meaning is essentially “elder,” “senior/respected member,” or “leader of a community.” It comes from the root associated with being old/eldest. Russian dictionaries do not give “wizard” or “magician” as a meaning.

 

There is another Russian word, старец (starets), meaning an old/respected man and, particularly, a religious elder, monk, or spiritual guide. That’s a very important word in Russian Orthodox culture because of the tradition of the starets—a spiritually gifted elder regarded as having unusual wisdom or insight”

Edited 8 hours ago by Calm