Russia Has Come Up With An Idea To "liquidate" Putin's Confessor

• 12.11.2025, 14:12

In order to "disrupt the negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States".

The assassination attempt on Metropolitan Tikhon of Simferopol and Crimea (George Shevkunov) was an attempt by Kiev to "disrupt negotiations between Russia and the United States" on ending the war in Ukraine, the FSB's Public Relations Center said. The service said it conducted searches and interrogations in Moscow, the Pskov region and Crimea on Nov. 11 in a criminal case filed in February 2025, The Moscow Times reported.

According to the FSB version, Tikhon's aide Denis Popovich and cleric Nikita Ivankovich were to kill the bishop "at the behest of Ukrainian security services" by planting an improvised explosive device on the grounds of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow.

"At the same time, the Kiev regime counted on the fact that in case of successful realization of the terrorist attack ... the Russian side would be forced to abandon peace talks," the FSB said. The service did not disclose the cause-and-effect connection.

But according to media reports, Tikhon is the confessor of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The metropolitan himself said he "advises" the head of state. Commenting on the FSB information, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Russia had not discussed with the United States the assassination attempt on Tikhon in the context specified by the service.