Employees of the newly built Orthodox church in the Swedish city of Westeros were suspected of spying for Russia. This was reported by the Politico newspaper on November 11.
According to the newspaper, the fears of the Swedish authorities were caused by the fact that the building of a religious institution is located in close proximity to strategically important infrastructure facilities.
"The church is a potential base that can be used to collect information — both about the Westeros airport and about the industrial sector in the form of large energy companies," Markus Joransson, a researcher at the Swedish Defense University specializing in Russia, explained in an interview with the publication.
So, according to him, the Swedish defense forces may be under probable surveillance during exercises at or near the airport.
The information that the Orthodox Church in the Swedish city of Westeros allegedly has links with Russian intelligence does not correspond to reality and is absurd. This is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), Archpriest Nikolai Lischenyuk.
"This is slander," he said.
According to Lischenyuk, the goals and objectives of any ROC parish abroad are the spiritual care of parishioners and taking care of them.