Patriarch Kirill flies on the planes of the special forces “Russia”

Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, flew to Surgut on May 27-28, and to Kaliningrad on June 30, on TU-214 aircraft of the special flight unit “Russia”, intended for state leaders. This is reported by “Sistema”, an investigative project of the Current Time and Radio Liberty TV channels. Journalists tracked the movement of liners using the flightradar24 aircraft tracking service.

The plane on which the patriarch flew to Surgut is used on other days by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Myshustin, according to the investigation.

“Sistema” notes that in recent years, Patriarch Kirill often travels on behalf of the state. In particular, in 2022, he flew to Minsk, Penza, Kaliningrad, Norilsk, Arkhangelsk and Vladikavkaz on the state TU-214 with registration number RA-645320. In addition to Kirill, Myshustin, the head of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin and the deputy chairman of the government Alexander Novak use this board.

Only a few officials have the legal rights to use such special planes: the president, the prime minister, the heads of both houses of parliament, the head of the Constitutional Court, the prosecutor general, the head of the presidential administration, as well as the minister of foreign affairs, notes the analyst of “Transparencies International-Russia” Alexander Vavilov. According to him, Patriarch Kirill, being a spiritual leader, is not included in this list, and for him to fly on state planes, written permission of the president is required.

Representatives of the Patriarchate, in response to the request of “Sistema”, advised to apply to the special flight detachment “Russia”. There, the presidential affairs office did not respond to a request for comments.

President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill constantly congratulate each other on various holidays. The Russian president annually attends the Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the patriarch repeatedly made pro-war statements. Priests with an anti-war position are subjected to pressure from church authorities.