Dressed in traditional clothes and bearing crosses, the sisters of St Elisabeth Convent appeared at first as ordinary visitors to churches in Sweden.
However, Swedish church leaders now caution that some of these nuns have links to Russian military intelligence and pro-Kremlin operations, raising concerns about faith communities being unintentionally drawn into geopolitical schemes.
According to multiple reports, they operated in as many as 20 churches across the country.
Last Christmas, the sisters sold knitwear and candles in the church hallway of Täby, near Stockholm, with the rector’s permission.
Rector Michael Öjermo told The Telegraph: “When they came, we gave them two tables, and they were standing in the hallway selling handicrafts in wood, knitwear, socks, and so on.”
Öjermo stressed that the parish was motivated by Christian solidarity with churches in non-democratic countries.
“We need to have contact with churches in countries that are not democratic. So, to me, it wasn’t a big problem to meet people from a church that I knew was dependent on a state that wasn’t ‘OK’ in my eyes.”
However, the Church of Sweden has since issued a warning about St Elisabeth Convent.
In a statement, it said the monastery “use their income to support Russian nationalism, support Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and has close ties with GRU".
The church added: “The monastery claims that the proceeds [of handicrafts] go to charitable causes. This is not true. The Church of Sweden advises against supporting their activities in any way.”
Kristina Smith, head of the Church of Sweden’s crisis-planning unit, told The Telegraph that the wider concern is Russian influence on Swedish parishes.
“We have given a general warning against letting the Russian Orthodox Church rent or borrow church facilities, because we noted the places they wanted to borrow were next to military installations," she said.
Swedish security services have even drawn attention to an Orthodox church in Västerås built near a major airport, which authorities suspect could be used for intelligence gathering, claims rejected by Russian representatives.
The nuns’ activity is not unique to Sweden. The Telegraph and the BBC previously reported that they were banned from Winchester Cathedral in Britain in 2022 over concerns about their stance on the conflict.