Czech police release Russian bishop after ‘white powder’ found in his car

Czech police have released a Russian Orthodox bishop who had been detained on suspicion of drug possession, after Moscow condemned the arrest as a politically motivated setup.

Bishop Hilarion, also known by his secular name Grigory Alfeyev, was stopped by police on Sunday in Karlovy Vary, a spa town in western Czechia popular with Russian tourists, after officers discovered containers holding a white substance in the boot of his car.

In a statement published on Tuesday after his release without charge, Hilarion said forensic tests had confirmed the substance was a banned narcotic, but insisted he had been framed.

“The mere discovery of a prohibited substance does not answer the key question – how these items ended up in the vehicle in the first place,” his post on Telegram said.

Hilarion, 60, heads the Russian Orthodox congregation in Karlovy Vary, which is home to a sizeable Russian diaspora.

The Czech national drug headquarters earlier said the bishop’s vehicle had been stopped following an anonymous tip-off alleging the transportation of narcotic and psychotropic substances.

Russia’s foreign ministry called the arrest a “deliberate, orchestrated provocation”.

The Russian Orthodox church described the incident as a “classic setup”, while Russia’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Czech Republic’s chargé d’affaires in Moscow, Jan Ondřejka, to formally protest against the detention.

Hilarion previously headed the Russian Orthodox church’s department for external church relations, effectively serving as the church’s foreign minister.

Once regarded as a close confidant of Patriarch Kirill, the powerful head of the Russian Orthodox church and close ally of Vladimir Putin, Hilarion has fallen out of favour with the church leadership in recent years.

Unlike many senior Russian clergymen who openly backed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Hilarion neither publicly supported nor condemned the war, and was demoted and posted abroad shortly after the invasion began in February 2022.

In December 2024, the Russian Orthodox church’s synod removed Hilarion from the administration of the Budapest-Hungarian diocese after a younger aide accused him of sexual harassment – allegations he denies. He also faced criticism over his allegedly lavish lifestyle, including yachting and skiing holidays, as well as reports about his ownership of an estate near Budapest. Hilarion has said he has been able to purchase property and fund his lifestyle from royalties received for his books and films.

Hilarion was later reassigned to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary.