Russian Orthodox cleric caught up in Czech cocaine case sues independent broadcaster TV Rain
Metropolitan Hilarion (Grigory Alfeyev) has filed a lawsuit against TV Rain in Moscow alleging harm to his honor, dignity, and reputation. RBC found the lawsuit in court records.
Hilarion filed the lawsuit in Moscow’s Ostankinsky District Court on September 9. Court records do not specify the basis for the complaint. Hilarion declined to comment to RBC.
Hilarion formerly headed the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations and served on the Synod, the Russian Orthodox Church’s highest governing body. In 2022, he became Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary.
In 2024, Hilarion’s former personal aide, Georgy Suzuki, accused him of sexual harassment. Hilarion was subsequently sent to Karlovy Vary to serve as a priest.
In May 2026, Czech law enforcement officers stopped a car in which Hilarion was traveling. Inside, they found “four small containers with a white substance.” Czech police later said the containers held cocaine.
Police detained Hilarion but released him soon afterward without charge. He returned to Russia in late May. Reports in June said Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, was sending Hilarion to serve in Brazil. In July, however, the church said he would remain in Russia.
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