Iakov Vorontsov. Photo: masa.media.ru.
Former Russian Orthodox Church priest Iakov Vorontsov has been detained in Almaty on suspicion of “organizing a den for the consumption of narcotic substances.” The city’s police department told Masa Media about the case.
“A man born in 1986 has been detained as a suspect. During search operations, powdery substances were seized. A medical examination confirmed his use of narcotic substances,” police said, adding that the investigation is ongoing and that “all persons involved and the circumstances of the unlawful activity are being established.”
Vorontsov is a former hieromonk of the Astana and Almaty diocese of the ROC. He gained public attention in 2023 after criticizing Russia’s military operation in Ukraine as well as the ROC leadership. He was later suspended from ministry and defrocked. A case was also opened against him on charges of inciting hatred, but the investigation was dropped for lack of evidence of a crime.
In recent years, Vorontsov has sought to establish in Kazakhstan an Orthodox Church not subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. He twice filed documents with the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan to register a religious association and was twice refused. It recently became known that he challenged this decision in court.
Update: The Administrative Court of Almaty has sentenced Vorontsov to 10 days of administrative arrest. He was found guilty of non-medical use of narcotic and psychotropic substances under Article 440-1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. His lawyer, Galym Nurpeisov, told Vlast.
