(Local Russian) Church 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

Edited August 14 by smac97

[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 August 11 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]

21 hours 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 (added: sort of has if one squints) 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 August 13 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 August 12 by Calm

[BlipBlap]

9 hours ago, Calm said:

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

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”

Well liquor IS often referred to as "spirits".  Maybe the root words in Russian are of a similar origin given the popularity of alcohol there.

[The Nehor]

With the conflict in Ukraine going poorly and the current gas shortages across the nation unrest is rising. Increased use of crackdowns are a normal authoritarian response to keep people nervous and less likely to cause problems. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it backfires.

There is a lot of effort to keep things as normal as possible in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They hold up the regime and the outlying regions are being strangled to keep up the veneer of normalcy in key areas.

Poor guy got caught in the middle of it.

[BlipBlap]

20 hours ago, The Nehor said:

With the conflict in Ukraine going poorly and the current gas shortages across the nation unrest is rising. Increased use of crackdowns are a normal authoritarian response to keep people nervous and less likely to cause problems. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it backfires.

There is a lot of effort to keep things as normal as possible in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They hold up the regime and the outlying regions are being strangled to keep up the veneer of normalcy in key areas.

Poor guy got caught in the middle of it.

While that may be true as a general rule, Russia had passed anti-proselytizing laws back in 2016 as part of the Yarovaya laws attempting to combat what was seen as terrorism.  Like most European nations, Russia doesn't really have freedom of religion, so this was bound to happen sooner or later regardless of the war in Ukraine.

[Stargazer]

On 8/12/2026 at 6:54 PM, 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

In German-speaking areas, full-time missionaries don't use the German word for Elder, which is Ältere, likely because it is more strictly an age-thing. The word which they would use, due to its New Testament use, is Älteste (see 1 Peter 5:1), which is literally "eldest". Instead, the male FTM use "Bruder." I was given the impression that the reason "Elder" isn't used is because the Germans are very title-conscious, and "Älteste" seems to confer a larger rank than the position merits.

 

[The Nehor]

On 8/14/2026 at 5:51 AM, BlipBlap said:

While that may be true as a general rule, Russia had passed anti-proselytizing laws back in 2016 as part of the Yarovaya laws attempting to combat what was seen as terrorism.  Like most European nations, Russia doesn't really have freedom of religion, so this was bound to happen sooner or later regardless of the war in Ukraine.

I’m not even sure this had a religious motivation. It might help to know if they are going after others even vaguely involved with Putin’s opposition.

[BlipBlap]

33 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

I’m not even sure this had a religious motivation. It might help to know if they are going after others even vaguely involved with Putin’s opposition.

The law explicitly bans proselytizing outside specific areas.  There have been cases where evangelical Protestants have been prosecuted under the law for talking to people about their faiths inside their own homes and Jehovah's Witnesses have been banned from the country entirely.  It is most definitely religious in nature and has nothing to do with Putin in terms of whether someone is opposed to him or not.

[JAHS]

I remember when 2 LDS "volunteerss" were arrested in 2019. What is Russia afraid of?

 

[The Nehor]

11 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

The law explicitly bans proselytizing outside specific areas.  There have been cases where evangelical Protestants have been prosecuted under the law for talking to people about their faiths inside their own homes and Jehovah's Witnesses have been banned from the country entirely.  It is most definitely religious in nature and has nothing to do with Putin in terms of whether someone is opposed to him or not.

Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with this particular case.

[The Nehor]

1 hour ago, JAHS said:

I remember when 2 LDS "volunteerss" were arrested in 2019. What is Russia afraid of?

They’re not afraid of the institutional church. They are afraid of losing their grip on power. There is also a lot of friction within Russia. In broad terms you can put the oligarchs into two categories. One is pro-trade with the world and wants this conflict over and the sanctions loosened or lifted so they can go back to making money. The other makes money from the security establishment and wants limited interaction with most other nations and likes a state where conflict might occur because that is their bread and butter.

This is why in the current conflict Putin is not making promises or propagandizing about what a post-war with Ukraine Russia is going to look like. He has to feed both groups enough to keep them in line and keep them on board. This kind of broad but mostly unfocused persecution feeds the security establishment types.

[BlipBlap]

2 hours ago, The Nehor said:

Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with this particular case.

Sure it does given that he was arrested under the tenants of the same law.  The point being that this was going to happen regardless of how the Ukraine war was going.

[BlipBlap]

3 hours ago, The Nehor said:

They’re not afraid of the institutional church. They are afraid of losing their grip on power. There is also a lot of friction within Russia. In broad terms you can put the oligarchs into two categories. One is pro-trade with the world and wants this conflict over and the sanctions loosened or lifted so they can go back to making money. The other makes money from the security establishment and wants limited interaction with most other nations and likes a state where conflict might occur because that is their bread and butter.

This is why in the current conflict Putin is not making promises or propagandizing about what a post-war with Ukraine Russia is going to look like. He has to feed both groups enough to keep them in line and keep them on board. This kind of broad but mostly unfocused persecution feeds the security establishment types.

They are afraid of the church as an institution because they believe that any American institution is a vehicle for American influence.  It isn't really "unfocused" at all given that we are essentially seen as the same thing as any other evangelical group.

The assessment of these supposed factions in Russia doesn't really work.  A security establishment wouldn't make much money from limited interactions with other nations as most of their money would come from the sale of security services, weapons, etc. to said nations.

It isn't about Ukraine at all, it's about another European country trying to maintain its power by oppressing it's population.  Russia is just going about it in a different way compared to western Europeans.  Their goal is to remove as much foreign influence on cultural pillars as possible so they can maintain control over them, whereas the western European nations want to destroy those cultural pillars through increasing foreign influence so they can then remake them in their own image.

[The Nehor]

8 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

They are afraid of the church as an institution because they believe that any American institution is a vehicle for American influence.  It isn't really "unfocused" at all given that we are essentially seen as the same thing as any other evangelical group.

Not really. We are mostly under their radar entirely.

8 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

The assessment of these supposed factions in Russia doesn't really work.  A security establishment wouldn't make much money from limited interactions with other nations as most of their money would come from the sale of security services, weapons, etc. to said nations.

You don’t know what you are talking about here.

8 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

It isn't about Ukraine at all, it's about another European country trying to maintain its power by oppressing it's population.  Russia is just going about it in a different way compared to western Europeans.  Their goal is to remove as much foreign influence on cultural pillars as possible so they can maintain control over them, whereas the western European nations want to destroy those cultural pillars through increasing foreign influence so they can then remake them in their own image.

No.

[BlipBlap]

On 8/16/2026 at 6:52 AM, The Nehor said:

Not really. We are mostly under their radar entirely.

You don’t know what you are talking about here.

No.

Clearly not given that we are treated under the same laws as other persecuted groups.

Seems like I do know what I'm talking about here as you can't seem to elaborate on why I don't.

Yes, it has zero to do with Ukraine.  This arrest was made based on laws passed in 2016.  Yes Russia is engaging in the same basic behavior as other European nations, they're just going about it differently.  At this point, you might as well be engaging in Holocaust denial.

[The Nehor]

3 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

Clearly not given that we are treated under the same laws as other persecuted groups.

Russia is not a nation of laws.

3 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

Seems like I do know what I'm talking about here as you can't seem to elaborate on why I don't.

You are self-evidently wrong.

3 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

Yes, it has zero to do with Ukraine. 

Wrong. Almost everything political in Russia right now and this is definitely political relates to authoritarians shoring up power due to the failures in Ukraine.

3 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

This arrest was made based on laws passed in 2016.  Yes Russia is engaging in the same basic behavior as other European nations, they're just going about it differently. 

No, this is not like what is happening in the rest of Europe.

3 hours ago, BlipBlap said:

At this point, you might as well be engaging in Holocaust denial.

Oh, we’re just going to speedrun Godwin’s Law? Okay. In that case shut up Nazi bootlicker.

[BlipBlap]

10 hours ago, The Nehor said:

Russia is not a nation of laws.

You are self-evidently wrong.

Wrong. Almost everything political in Russia right now and this is definitely political relates to authoritarians shoring up power due to the failures in Ukraine.

No, this is not like what is happening in the rest of Europe.

Oh, we’re just going to speedrun Godwin’s Law? Okay. In that case shut up Nazi bootlicker.

Russia is a nation of laws.  Just because you don't agree with those laws does not make said laws non-existent.

There's no such thing as being "self-evidently wrong".  You can't respond to the point.

No, most of the current political situation in Russia has little if anything to do with Ukraine.  Again, the very law this dude got arrested under was passed BEFORE 2022.  You're entire point falls to a calendar.

Yes, this is like what is happening in the rest of Europe at a basic level.  They're all jackboots trying to consolidate their power.  One the one hand, you have some who are trying to remove foreign influence.  On the other hand, you have some trying to remove their educated population by importing many thousands of people from other places in order to stamp out the culture of the former majority.

Good job not understanding Godwin's law.  You do understand that "the Holocaust" involved far more people than Hitler, yes?  Imagine acting like calling me a "Nazi bootlicker" when you're the one downplaying persecution.

[The Nehor]

37 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

Russia is a nation of laws.  Just because you don't agree with those laws does not make said laws non-existent.

I am saying it is an authoritarian state and the laws are completely malleable to those in power and can be ignored or enforced depending on the whims of the powerful.

37 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

There's no such thing as being "self-evidently wrong".

Yes, there is.

37 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

  You can't respond to the point.

It is an irrational point.

37 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

No, most of the current political situation in Russia has little if anything to do with Ukraine.  Again, the very law this dude got arrested under was passed BEFORE 2022.  You're entire point falls to a calendar.

Absolutely incorrect. Everything going on there is being influenced by the conflict in Ukraine.

When the law was created isn’t relevant. How it is being used is a choice by the people in power.

37 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

Yes, this is like what is happening in the rest of Europe at a basic level.  They're all jackboots trying to consolidate their power.  One the one hand, you have some who are trying to remove foreign influence.  On the other hand, you have some trying to remove their educated population by importing many thousands of people from other places in order to stamp out the culture of the former majority.

Great replacement conspiracy nonsense.

37 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

Good job not understanding Godwin's law. 

?????

37 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

You do understand that "the Holocaust" involved far more people than Hitler, yes?

No, I did not. Until this moment I thought Hitler personally did everything that involved the holocaust himself. My mind is blown. Who could have conceived that the holocaust involved more than one actor? Truly you are a genius. Why are you wasting your time here? With brilliance like this you should be curing cancer or revolutionizing physics or something.

/s

37 minutes ago, BlipBlap said:

  Imagine acting like calling me a "Nazi bootlicker" when you're the one downplaying persecution.

I am not downplaying persecution. I just won’t buy your simple-minded narrative of what is going on.

[BlipBlap]

32 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

I am saying it is an authoritarian state and the laws are completely malleable to those in power and can be ignored or enforced depending on the whims of the powerful.

Yes, there is.

It is an irrational point.

Absolutely incorrect. Everything going on there is being influenced by the conflict in Ukraine.

When the law was created isn’t relevant. How it is being used is a choice by the people in power.

Great replacement conspiracy nonsense.

?????

No, I did not. Until this moment I thought Hitler personally did everything that involved the holocaust himself. My mind is blown. Who could have conceived that the holocaust involved more than one actor? Truly you are a genius. Why are you wasting your time here? With brilliance like this you should be curing cancer or revolutionizing physics or something.

/s

I am not downplaying persecution. I just won’t buy your simple-minded narrative of what is going on.

Every country's laws are completely malleable to those in power.  Every.  Single.  One.

No, there is no such thing as being "self-evidently wrong".  It's a cop-out drummed up by those unable to respond.

It isn't irrational at all.  Just because you don't like it doesn't make it "irrational".  Again, another cop-out.

Nope, not at all.  This has nothing to do with Ukraine.  The law he was arrested under was made prior to 2022.  Again, you lose to a basic calendar.

The law is entirely relevant as it created justification for this arrest to happen.

Great replacement theory isn't nonsense at all.  Again, you can't actually respond to the point, so you have to cop-out with vague platitudes.

https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/unpd-egm_200010_un_2001_replacementmigration.pdf

Godwin's law references Hitler only, not the Holocaust.  Therefore, you don't understand the concept.  What, do you seriously think that the Holocaust wouldn't have happened had Hitler not existed?

You are downplaying persecution.  There's nothing simple-minded about this at all.  A law was passed in 2016 that justified government action against evangelizing religious groups.  We are one of those groups.  The man in question was arrested for an act that happened five years ago.

What is 2026-5?  2021, yes?  So prior to 2022.

It has been standard practice for Putin to go after his political opposition.  Alexei Navalny, the man who's group this LDS leader donated to, was poisoned in 2020 and blamed Putin for it.  Putin's been implicated in the poisoning deaths of Roman Tsepov and Alexander Litvinenko as well.  Both of those cases happened before 2010.

Again, downplaying a decades-long pattern of attacking political opposition just because of "muh Ukraine war".