New Russian church raises suspicions in Swedish town

VÄSTERÅS, Sweden — An onion-domed spire rises above surrounding trees into a cloudless fall sky. A high fence tracks the perimeter and signs warn of CCTV coverage. At the sound of a passing car, a dog runs out from behind a parked minibus within the enclosure and barks through the closed entrance gate.

This is the recently built Russian Orthodox Church on the outskirts of the Swedish town of Västerås — to its backers, an innocent place of worship; but to an increasingly vocal group of critics, a potential threat to Sweden’s national security. 

The concern centers on the church’s sensitive location, very close to a strategically important airport, a water treatment works and advanced energy companies based in the city of 130,000 located just 100 kilometers west of Stockholm. 

Amid a wave of alleged plots by suspected Russian operatives to target infrastructure and murder opponents across Europe, security experts say Sweden should clamp down on Moscow-aligned institutions across the country — including this church.

“The church offers a potential foothold that can be used for information-gathering, both directed at Västerås Airport and at industrial interests in the form of large companies involved in the energy sector,” said Markus Göransson, a researcher focusing on Russia at the Swedish Defence University. “When Sweden’s defense forces undertake exercises on or near the airport, as was done in June, they do so under possible surveillance from the church,” he added. 

The Russian Embassy in Stockholm did not respond to an emailed request for comment on the allegations that the church is a security threat. 

The Russian Orthodox Church in Västerås also did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Representatives of the church have previously denied links to Russia’s intelligence services, according to Västerås-based daily VLT, which has led on local media coverage around the church.

Church as spy link

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European nations expelled hundreds of Russian Embassy staff from their countries in an effort to blunt Moscow’s ability to infiltrate its neighbors. 

But two years on, it’s increasingly clear that Moscow is continuing to find ways to provide cover for its operatives overseas. And that risks consequences.

In April, United Kingdom authorities said they suspected Russia was behind an arson attack on a British warehouse; and in July, Russian agents were alleged to be plotting to kill the head of Germany’s Rheinmetall, a supplier of arms to Ukraine, CNN reported. 

The Russian Orthodox Church appears to be emerging as one potential conduit for Moscow’s covert actions abroad.

Ukrainian security forces raided a monastery in Kyiv early in 2022 to disrupt Russian intelligence operations they said were based there. This August, the Ukrainian government banned the church from its territory outright.  

In the Czech Republic, some lawmakers have recently called on the government to investigate church activities on Czech soil, Radio Free Europe reported. 

Swedish authorities are also starting to react. At the end of May, the Swedish public body that provides financial support to religious groups, known as SST, stopped funding for the church in Sweden after consulting the country’s security police, or Säpo.

Concerning its statement to SST, a spokesperson for Säpo said his agency had concluded that representatives of the church “have had contacts” with individuals working for Russian intelligence in Sweden. “The Russian state uses the Russian Orthodox Church in Sweden as a platform to conduct intelligence activities in Sweden,” the spokesperson stated. 

Västerås municipal council leader Staffan Jansson told local daily VLT that the statement by Säpo had been “of course worrying.” 

“These are serious times, and it is necessary for us to pay attention to what is going on around us,” he said.

Jansson declined to comment when contacted by POLITICO. His office referred all questions to Säpo. 

Strategic location

When the planning committee for Västerås met to approve the church’s building application in February 2017, its location seems not to have triggered any serious concerns, the meeting’s agenda suggests. 

Nor did the plan for accommodation and dining facilities at the same site. 

Visited on a recent weekday, the Russian church in Västerås was quiet. A minibus was parked to one side, but there were no visitors or staff visible.

The narrow road from the church’s main gate led directly to the edge of Västerås Airport, a few hundred meters away. The airport is strategically important as it has been designated as a so-called standby airport available around-the-clock for use in the event of a military or civil crisis.

A minute’s drive beyond the airport is a water treatment works serving Västerås and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, production facilities for power companies ABB and Westinghouse can be found closer to town. 

Concerns over the Russian church here echo those raised over acquisitions by private Russian citizens of buildings close to strategic military sites across the Nordic countries. 

These include the case of two Russian businessmen who own ski lodges facing a Norwegian military airport at Bardufoss, as reported by Norwegian broadcaster TV 2. A Russian businessman has also bought a waterfront property facing Sweden’s super-secret naval base of Muskö, Swedish daily Expressen reported.

But there are also signs that Nordic authorities are looking to tighten up their laws in this regard. 

In the Finnish town of Kankaanpää, three Russian citizens were recently denied the right to buy a derelict old people’s home close to an army training area on national security grounds, and the Swedish government has suggested it might look to apply similar restrictions in the future. 

Experts suggest a more restrictive approach would have been appropriate in the Västerås case. 

“It was a haywire decision, to approve the construction of the church in close proximity to the airport in the first place, and it’s been shown to be even dumber with time,” said researcher Göransson. 

“Assuming that the Russian church remains, the authorities and other strategic actors — including industrial actors present in Västerås — need to assume in their planning that there is a significant vulnerability in the form of the church.”