New investigation reveals Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill’s ‘secret common-law wife’ of 50 years
Under Orthodox Church canon law, a patriarch cannot be married and must be celibate. But according to a new Proekt investigation, Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill has had a “secret common-law wife” for more than 50 years. Journalists report that Lidia Leonova lives in the patriarch’s apartment, manages the household, and regularly accompanies him on trips. Meduza shares the investigation’s key findings about Patriarch Kirill’s longtime companion.
Lidia Leonova was first publicly identified as a member of Patriarch Kirill’s inner circle in 2012, after a scandal erupted over an apartment owned by the Russian Orthodox Church head in the House on the Embankment, an elite residential complex located directly across from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in downtown Moscow.
It all began when the patriarch’s downstairs neighbor, former health minister turned priest Yuri Shevchenko, began renovations. Construction dust drifted into the upstairs apartment, and the resulting damage prompted a lawsuit filed not by the Patriarch himself, but by Leonova.
As a result of the case, the public learned about the Patriarch’s luxury apartment and the fact that Leonova lived there with him. The court ultimately ruled in Leonova’s favor, ordering Shevchenko to pay damages roughly equivalent to the value of his own apartment at the time. His attempts to appeal the ruling were dismissed without review.
Orthodox canon law stipulates that a patriarch cannot marry and must be celibate. That’s why, according to Proekt, Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov quickly floated an alternative explanation, identifying Leonova as Patriarch Kirill’s second cousin. Solovyov claimed he’d learned this from interviewing the Patriarch, but the footage was never aired. He said Kirill told him the apartment had been a gift from the authorities, that he had never lived there himself, and that he had allowed two second cousins — Leonova and another woman — to reside there instead.
However, as Proekt points out, there is no known documentary evidence that Kirill and Leonova are related.
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Little is publicly known about Leonova herself. In 2004, religious scholar Alexander Soldatov wrote in Ogonyok magazine that Lidia Leonova was “the daughter of a cook for the Leningrad Regional Committee of the Communist Party,” and that Vladimir Gundyaev — Patriarch Kirill’s secular name — shared “the warmest of relations” with her. Their story, Soldatov added, “will never appear in any of his official biographies.”
According to Proekt, Leonova’s maiden name was Kholodova. In the 1970s, she married a Ukrainian man, Mykhailo Leonov. Journalists believe the marriage quickly fell apart but was never formally dissolved. When Gundyaev was assigned to serve as the Archbishop of Smolensk in the 1980s, Leonova moved with him. She later lived with him in his residence in Moscow’s Serebryany Bor neighborhood.
A few years ago, Archimandrite Tikhon (Zatyokin) used state archives to compile an extensive genealogy of the patriarch’s family — tracing it back to Kirill’s great-grandfather — for a book. No relatives with the surname Kholodov appear in that account, and Proekt likewise found no such family ties.
Proekt also points to a book by journalist Ksenia Luchenko about the modern history of the Russian Orthodox Church. Luchenko quotes an acquaintance of Gundyaev who frequently visited him when he was still a metropolitan and described Leonova as deeply involved in his affairs. “She knows how every part of the household is run, she’s involved in his relationships with different people, she keeps track of who needs help and who to send gifts to,” the source said, adding that “it’s rather naïve to assume she’s a second cousin.”
Leonova frequently accompanies the Patriarch on foreign trips. In 2019, she traveled with him to Baku, where Kirill marked the 10th anniversary of his enthronement. She’s also listed as the owner of a company called Vladolid — a name journalists believe is a portmanteau of Vladimir and Lidia. The firm manages real estate and holds title to a 200-square-meter (2,153-square-foot) commercial property in an 1874 apartment building in St. Petersburg. Leonova also owns a 121-square-meter (1,302-square-foot) apartment in the same building, which journalists have previously reported was a gift from a longtime associate of Patriarch Kirill.
The ownership of the apartment in the House on the Embankment is currently concealed in Russia’s property registry — a common practice for officials and their relatives. Proekt maintains that the apartment remains registered in Patriarch Kirill’s name. Journalists have also uncovered evidence of Leonova living there. For example, a leaked 2022 Moscow resident database lists Gundyaev as registered at that address, with Leonova’s phone number provided as contact information.
Leonova is also listed as the owner of other assets linked to the Patriarch, including several vehicles: a Lexus RX450h some 15 years ago, a BMW X3 in 2013, and a BMW X5 in 2021.
While Proekt’s journalist note that they cannot definitively confirm that Gundyaev and Leonova are or have been involved in an intimate relationship, the investigation argues that Leonova fits the criteria of a common-law wife:
We’ve used the term “common-law wives” to describe women who lived in [secular] officials’ apartments and frequently traveled with them, without being legally married to them. Leonova clearly fits this definition: she lives wherever the patriarch lives, flies with him more often than anyone else (with the sole exception of his personal physician, who accompanies him on all flights), and manages his household. Secular officials also tend to register their property and businesses in the names of their common-law wives. Leonova has consistently played the same role.