In Almaty, early on February 13, police detained Hieromonk Iakov Vorontsov, who had previously been defrocked by the Russian Orthodox Church for his anti-war stance. Three days earlier, on February 10, a court was supposed to hear his lawsuit challenging the refusal to register an Orthodox community independent of the Moscow Patriarchate, but the hearing was canceled without explanation.
During a search carried out by masked OMON officers, investigators said they were pursuing a case on the “organization of a drug den” and reported finding a white powdery substance. The cleric’s allies, friends, lawyers, and journalists who knew him say they do not believe the drug allegation: Vorontsov lived openly, recorded videos almost every day, preached publicly, and campaigned for the registration of the community.
Investigators gave him the procedural status of “witness with the right to defense”. According to his lawyer, Galym Nurpeisov, the hieromonk had taken a sleeping pill shortly before the arrest, and traces of it were likely what a police-ordered medical examination detected. On that basis, a court imposed 10 days of administrative arrest; the defense plans to appeal.
Vorontsov has been seeking a peaceful Orthodox alternative to the Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan since 2023, after breaking with its pro-war line. He signed an open letter against the invasion of Ukraine, was suspended from ministry, and later defrocked. He was also investigated for “inciting discord” over a harsh social media post about the doctrine of the “sacred special military operation,” but an expert review found no such elements, and the case was closed only in May 2025.
After officials refused to register the Transfiguration of the Lord community, Vorontsov challenged the decision in court. His supporters link the current prosecution to that effort and to a broad campaign against him by Russian Orthodox Church structures and Russian propaganda outlets.
“It is better to be imprisoned than for a priest to live without serving the liturgy,” Fr. Iakov said earlier, citing the new martyrs and confessors of the 20th century as his model.