Investigators with the Federal Security Service (FSB) have brought final charges against Denis Popovich, a former aide to Metropolitan Tikhon, and Nikita Ivankovich, a server at the Church of the Resurrection in Sokolniki, according to a case file on the website of the First Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction. The development was flagged by Mediazona.
Previously, both men faced only charges of illegal weapons trafficking and preparation for a terrorist attack. Now Popovich, in addition to the earlier counts, is suspected of aiding an adversary, undergoing training to commit a terrorist act, participating in a terrorist organization, unlawfully accessing computer data, and using forged documents.
Ivankovich, instead of aiding an adversary and undergoing training, has been charged with high treason. The remaining charges are identical for both defendants.
Popovich and Ivankovich were arrested in mid-February 2025. According to investigators, they were preparing, on orders from Ukrainian military intelligence, to kill Metropolitan Tikhon and planned to plant an explosive device in the Sretensky Monastery. The defendants deny their guilt: their lawyers have said that initial confessions were obtained under torture.
Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) has been described by the media as Putin's confessor, though this has not been officially confirmed. Since 2023, he has headed the metropolitanate in annexed Crimea.