Russian Orthodox metropolitan decorated by Putin suspected of drug possession in Czechia

Police in the city of Karlovy Vary, Czechia, stopped a car on 24 May carrying Russian Metropolitan Hilarion, who heads the Czech branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, and found four small containers with a white substance inside.

Source: Hilarion's Telegram channel, in a statement released on behalf of his defence team, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The statement said Metropolitan Hilarion "currently has no opportunity to address the channel's subscribers personally" so the information is being released by the defence.

The defence said law enforcement officers stopped the car carrying the metropolitan and a cameraman after they left the Church of Saints Peter and Paul.

Metropolitan Hilarion and his defence team said police officers "did not give clear reasons for the stop related to a possible traffic offence and immediately proceeded to inspect the vehicle".

During the inspection, four small containers containing a white substance were found in the boot.

"The composition, origin and nature of the substance must be determined only by competent expert analysis. Metropolitan Hilarion vehemently denies any involvement in the illegal possession of prohibited substances and considers what happened to be a provocation," the defence statement said.

"I do not have, and have never had, any connection to illegal drug trafficking. For me, as a clergyman, the very suggestion of such a thing is plainly false. I insist on a full, independent and procedurally flawless review of what happened," Hilarion was quoted as saying.

The metropolitan's defence team said it had "serious questions" about the circumstances of the car stop and the subsequent inspection. The lawyer said two police cars were effectively waiting for the metropolitan's vehicle on the road. The defence also pointed out that police officers immediately asked not only the driver but also Metropolitan Hilarion for documents, although no allegations of a traffic offence were made.

"Of particular concern is the fact that, according to the defence, Metropolitan Hilarion was taken to a shop at a petrol station and was not given the opportunity to observe the inspection of the vehicle," the Russian metropolitan's defence team complained.

The defence is demanding access to all video footage related to the car stop. It is also insisting on an independent examination of the substance, packaging and containers, fingerprint and DNA checks and an assessment of who had access to the car before the stop.

Hilarion claims he had repeatedly received anonymous threats in recent months, including threats of physical violence, demanding that he leave his place of ministry.

Background:

• From 2009, Metropolitan Hilarion headed the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations and was regarded as one of the main candidates to become the next patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, in June 2022, he was removed from the post by a decision of the Russian Orthodox Church's synod and transferred to lead the Budapest-Hungary diocese.
• At the end of 2024, the Russian Orthodox Church's synod stripped Hilarion of that leadership post as well. The dismissal came several months after a scandal broke out around the metropolitan over allegations of harassment. As a result, he was transferred to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary.
• In 2025, Czechia discussed the possibility of adding Hilarion to its national sanctions list.

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