#EU #Czechia – Czech police detained Metropolitan Hilarion (Grigory Alfeyev), a senior Russian Orthodox Church cleric, on May 24th, 2026, after officers discovered four small containers holding a white substance in the trunk of his vehicle during a traffic stop.
Authorities stopped the car, which carried Hilarion and a cameraman, shortly after the group left the Orthodox Church of Saints Peter and Paul in the western Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary. Police conducted a search based on an anonymous tip regarding possible narcotics transport and found the containers during the inspection of the trunk.
Hilarion, who served as the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations from 2009 to 2022, denied any connection to the substance. In a statement released via his Telegram channel on May 25, he described the incident as a provocation and accused officers of procedural irregularities, including failing to explain the reason for the stop and not allowing him to witness the search.
“I have no, and have never had any, connection with the illegal trafficking of narcotic substances,” the statement read. “For me, as a clergyman, the very suggestion of such a thing is absolutely false. I insist on a full, independent, and procedurally impeccable investigation.”
Hilarion’s defense team echoed these claims, noting that both the metropolitan and his driver underwent drug tests at a police station, which returned negative results. They highlighted prior pressure on Hilarion and the local Orthodox community, including anonymous threats.
The cleric, aged 59, had a turbulent recent history. He was reassigned to Central Europe after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and faced suspension amid earlier scandals, including allegations of sexual harassment from a person of the same-sex. In July 2024, he faced public allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct from his former cell-attendant, Georgy Suzuki, a then-20/21-year-old Russian-Japanese man who worked for him in Budapest. He had been serving in Karlovy Vary at the time of the detention.
Czech police confirmed they carried out measures related to a vehicle in the region based on a tip about drugs but did not publicly name individuals involved. Forensic analysis of the white substance, along with fingerprint and DNA testing, remained ongoing as of May 25, with no formal charges filed.
The incident prompted a swift diplomatic response from Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Czech ambassador in Moscow and condemned the detention as a “staged provocation” aimed at discrediting Hilarion and the Orthodox Church. Moscow demanded his immediate release.
This event unfolded against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of Russian Orthodox Church activities in Europe, particularly amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. An upcoming sanctions package intends to target the ROC specifically, which has not been done since the start of the Russo-Ukraine War.
Image: Metropolitan Hilarion.
