The key facts

  • The MVD declared former hieromonk Ioann Kurmoyarov wanted under a criminal article without specifying the offense
  • In 2023 he received three years in a penal colony for videos criticizing the SVO and was released in August 2024
  • Since August 2025 Kurmoyarov has been on the foreign agents registry and, according to open sources, lives in France

Wanted under a criminal article

Russia's Interior Ministry has declared wanted former hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church Ioann Kurmoyarov, who has been designated a foreign agent in Russia. This follows from the ministry's database. The wanted card states that the pursuit is being conducted under a criminal article, but the specific article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is not specified. According to open sources, Kurmoyarov currently lives outside Russia.

Criminal case and sentence

Ioann Kurmoyarov was detained in St. Petersburg in June 2022. The grounds for criminal prosecution were videos on his YouTube channel 'Virtual Orthodox Parish,' in which he criticized the special military operation and the concept of the Russian Armed Forces' cathedral in Kubinka. In August 2023, the Dzerzhinsky District Court of St. Petersburg sentenced him to three years in a general-regime penal colony under subparagraph 'd' of part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — on public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces, motivated by religious hatred. Kurmoyarov pleaded guilty in the case.

Release and emigration

In August 2024, Kurmoyarov was released, but, according to the publication, he was unable to find work in Russia and emigrated to France. On August 15, 2025, he was added to the foreign agents registry. Gazeta.Ru also recalls that earlier the producer of 'Laskovyi Mai,' Andrei Razin, was declared wanted again.