Authorities’ and churchmen’s efforts prevent escalation after statements by Alaudinov and Schema-Abbot Gavriil

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have intervened in the situation that arose after the harsh statements by Schema-Abbot Gavriil and Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the “Akhmat” Special Forces, while the Kremlin has preferred to remain aside, analysts believe.

In the opinion of Sergey Chapnin, Communication Director of the Centre for Orthodox Studies at the Fordham University (New York), one should distinguish between the ecclesiastical and political consequences of the “alarmist and rather wild statement made by a reclusive monk. The church authorities decided to remove Schema-Abbot Gavriil from the post of metochion head, and that’s it. Nothing more will happen along church lines; and I don’t even rule out that after some time he may be reinstated in his post; they say that the ROC wouldn’t bend under the shouts of Chechen commanders or even MoD’s officials. The socio-political consequences are a different, completely independent story that is developing without Gavriil’s participation. The campaign against Apti Alaudinov is being conducted by completely different forces, which have nothing to do with either the metochion or the Valaam Monastery,” Mr Chapnin has stated, noting that it’s too early talking about how the Muslim Ummah and state officials will react to this.

Sergey Chapnin believes that the situation was resolved without the Kremlin's intervention. "However, I don’t exclude that the abbot of the Valaam Monastery, Bishop Pankraty (Zherdev), had consulted with the Kremlin privately. As is known, Putin's dacha is located on Valaam, so Pankraty has the necessary connections in the presidential administration, and I have no doubt that in this case he used them. But this was done privately. As for the question of why the ROC hasn’t defended Gavriil more actively in this conflict, the question arises: what for? From the viewpoint of the Moscow Patriarchate, Gavriil is not at all a figure that should be defended," Mr Chapnin has noted.

He also explained that from the canonical viewpoint, Schema-Abbot Gavriil is not under diocesan subordination. "He is a member of the brotherhood (monastic community) of the Stavropegic Monastery, which is directly subordinate to Patriarch Kirill, bypassing the diocesan structures," the expert has explained, adding that Alaudinov's apology wasn’t the starting point for the use of the Chechen practice of public apologies by Orthodox activists.

"We see that a number of Orthodox patriotic organizations have initially used Alaudinov's harsh and disrespectful words, but then they backed down; and the initiative with letters and petitions, as if by magic, turned into an initiative of individual persons. And here, I think, the intervention of the presidential administration is obvious. It has decided not to fan this conflict up. And this means that in the near future everything will come to naught. At least in the public space," Mr Chapnin has emphasized.

There was no Kremlin’s intervention, since MoD’s officials took control over the conflict, Sergey Zhavoronkov, an expert from the Egor Gaidar Institute of Economic Policy (Moscow). "I think that Alaudinov's bosses at the MoD pointed out the need to apologize. Russian authorities position themselves as Orthodoxy defenders; and here someone made rude statements about an Orthodox priest. In this sense, I admit that he was asked from above to apologize, which he did," Mr Zhavoronkov believes.

In this situation authorities were highly interested in hushing up the matter as quickly as possible. "They were not interested in continuing the conflict, or in this topic continuing to be heard in the public arena," Sergey Zhavoronkov has noted.

He has added, "The position of the Moscow Patriarchate created by Stalin is nicely described in the famous ‘Lenten Letter’ by Solzhenitsyn to the then Patriarch Pimen (published in 1972, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"). In it, the writer says that the church has its own opinion on any issue in distant Africa, but never says anything about what is happening in its own country. This tradition is actually supported by the church authorities."

Andrei Koshkin, a political analyst, is sure that both sides’ right decisions prevented the conflict escalation. "The apologies of one side and the removal of the other side from office have exhausted the conflict," he has stated.

In his opinion, the conflict was resolved without the Kremlin's intervention. "When the apologies were made, it was clear that the situation was under the MoD’s control. But the ROC also responded correctly. This conflict has shown how to act so that there is no interreligious clash," Mr Koshkin has noted.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 12, 2025 at 04:55 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.