The rector of the cathedral in Kronstadt commented on reports of “PMCs under the Russian Orthodox Church”

The rector of the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Kronstadt, Archimandrite Alexy (Ganzhin), denied reports of the creation of a PMC in the temple, RBC reports.

Earlier, the Bloknot newspaper interviewed the director of the St. Andrew’s Cross Center at the Naval Cathedral, Vladimir Khilchenko, who called the organization “the first PMC under the Russian Orthodox Church.”

Archimandrite Alexy explained on Saturday that the center trains volunteers, but is not a private military company.

“There are people, parishioners who sponsor, money is spent on education. But these are the people who are going to defend our fatherland,” the archimandrite said and emphasized: “This is not a military company.”

Khilchenko said in an interview that thanks to the rector of the cathedral, Father Alexy, the St. Andrew’s Cross appeared in 2017 for former special forces “as a base for preparing for the Naval Assault” competition. There, according to him, volunteers are trained for various PMCs, the preparation takes 30 days. Khilchenko also said that everyone who is going to participate in the NWO in Ukraine and wants to get, first of all, “survival skills” or “specialized training” can go through training. Training is carried out on private donations and the participants’ own money.

Father Alexy explained that at the cathedral there are basic military training courses for children, where they also teach adults who want to volunteer for Ukraine. In general, classes “for five years … have been held … with children and adults.” Children are prepared “for the army so that they can be able to survive.”