A priest who went to the SVO was defrocked. He was accused of stealing humanitarian aid and was called a terrible criminal
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia defrocked three clergymen from Tatarstan : Deacon Alexei Shamanin, priests Igor Egorov and Vitaly Belyaev. The latter had repeatedly traveled to the special military operation zone (SVO) and had previously been banned from serving.
The Kazan diocese website states that Belyaev was defrocked for violating the 17th, 25th and 27th rules of the Holy Apostles, as well as the 9th rule of the Constantinople Double Council. They prohibit remarriage, fornication, theft, beatings, and also condemn corporal punishment.
Belyaev recorded a video with Wagnerites
According to KP.RU, since December 2022, Belyaev has been traveling to the SVO zone every month. There, he baptized the wounded, held prayers, and even pulled soldiers out from under fire. In the summer of 2023, he was banned from visiting the combat zone, and in the fall, he was suspended from serving in the church.
In the winter of the following year, after his arrival from the Kharkov region, the church court of the Kazan diocese decided to defrock the priest. After that, he recorded a video with fighters standing behind him with the flag of the private military company (PMC) "Wagner". In the video, the priest asked not to interfere with him "engaged in supporting the Russian army."
The NGS.ru article also cites a case in which Belyaev escaped from the hospital, where he was admitted with an attack of bronchial asthma, in order to marry a Wagnerite who was going to the front to his bride.
The priest was accused of stealing humanitarian aid and was called a terrible criminal
In 2023, videos appeared on social networks accusing Belyaev of stealing humanitarian aid intended for the SVO fighters. In them, people in masks, camouflage and with weapons in their hands said that aid had allegedly not arrived in full, and some of the parcels had been opened.
In addition, volunteer Anastasia Sustavova criticized the priest. She called him "the most terrible criminal" and wished that " the FSB would deal with him properly as soon as possible." According to the girl, during his trip to the SVO zone, Belyaev took a lot of photos, including military maps, after which Ukrainian artillery fired at the positions of Russian troops. She also claimed that the priest bought a lot of different property with the money he earned from humanitarian aid and beat up dissatisfied people.
However, the parishioners refused to believe these accusations and described Belyaev as a quiet, kind and bright person. The priest himself suggested that he and the volunteer had a falling out, after which she wanted revenge.
Belyaev came to the priesthood from the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Belyaev was born in Naberezhnye Chelny, attended an Orthodox youth community as a teenager, and after school studied for a year and a half at the Kazan Theological Seminary. Then, according to Belyaev himself, he decided to interrupt his theological education and join a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The man joined the rapid response battalion "Lynx", then ended up in the Kremlin battalion of the Kazan police, guarding the Cannon Yard.
A few years later, he left the police and began serving as an altar boy at a church in Odintsovo. In 2009, he was ordained a priest. Then he became the rector of a church in the village of Kuyuki. Belyaev also mentored members of the 26th special forces detachment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Together with the fighters, he traveled to hot spots - Chechnya and Syria.
