Archpriest VLADIMIR KUZMITSKY, ROC (Srednyaya Akhtuba, Volgograd region, Russia)

Archpriest Vladimir Kuzmitsky is the former rector of the “Pantanassa” Church in Srednyaya Akhtuba, Volgograd Oblast.

He recorded an anti-war statement in which he anathematized all those who started the war. This led to threats of criminal prosecution and suspension from ministry, forcing him to emigrate to Georgia. There, he began working with the anti-war project Peace to All, using its platforms to speak out against the war.

On 11 July 2025, Kuzmitsky received a letter from the Kalach Diocese of the Volgograd Metropolis stating that the ruling bishop, Bishop Ioann (Kovalenko) of Kalach and Pallasovka, had approved a decision to depose him from the priesthood for “leaving the diocese” and “ceasing communication with the ruling hierarch.”