October 2022. The Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra near Moscow is a kind of Vatican of the Moscow Patriarchate. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) Kirill has fallen ill, and his place behind the altar of the main cathedral is taken by Metropolitan Vladimir of Moldova. He leads a solemn liturgy in honor of the founder of the monastery.
The entire cathedral is ablaze with emerald green, symbolizing eternal life. Metropolitan Volodymyr serves in full hierarchal vestments: a long brocade cassock, over which is draped an omophorion, a wide ribbon that signifies pastoral care.
During the “times” — a short hour-long service preceding the liturgy — the protodeacon steps onto the pulpit and recites a series of prayer requests. On this day, along with the traditional requests for peace and the clergy, he reads a special request for “the head of state of Russia Vladimir Vladimirovich” and “victory over enemies visible and invisible”. The Lavra choir responds three times with a loud “Lord, have mercy”.
Putin turned seventy the day before, and the full-scale war against Ukraine has been going on for eight months.
This is what the liturgy looked like at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, led by Metropolitan Volodymyr of Moldova on October 8, 2022. He is in the center in the photo.
At this moment, Metropolitan Volodymyr is standing opposite the protodeacon — inside the altar in front of the throne. What is he doing at this very moment?
We describe this scene from the broadcast of the liturgy. At the moment when the prayer for the head of the Kremlin sounds, the camera does not show Volodymyr. It films the cathedral from the outside. Later in his interview, he will assure that he did not personally pray for Putin, but only "stood with his hands raised".
A few days after that service, Patriarch Kirill awarded Metropolitan Volodymyr the Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov — one of the highest awards of the Moscow Patriarchate.
From Soviet sailor to metropolitan: how Mykola Kantaryan from Bukovyna led the largest Orthodox church in Moldova
A native of Ukraine, a Soviet sailor and, according to some Moldovan journalists, a retired colonel — this is exactly the biography of the man who has been heading the largest Orthodox church in Moldova for over 36 years.
Metropolitan Volodymyr (in the world Mykola Kantarian) was born in the village of Kolinkivtsi (Chernivtsi region). His father was Romanian by origin, his mother was Ukrainian.
"I cannot put Ukraine on the back burner. I am also a citizen of Ukraine. My fatherʼs house is in Ukraine," Volodymyr said in an interview after the start of the Great War.
The future Metropolitan Volodymyr (in the world — Mykola Kantaryan) as a child with his parents. In one of his interviews, he said that since childhood he had dreamed of being a sailor and serving in the navy.
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In addition to his Ukrainian passport, Volodymyr holds Moldovan and Russian citizenship. The beginning of this story leads to Sevastopol, where Kantaryan served three years of military service in the logistics units of the USSR Black Sea Fleet.
At that time, he served aboard the Soviet anti-submarine cruiser Moskva.
Mykola Kantaryan served in the Soviet Army for three years (1970–1973). He is in the middle of the photo.
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Along with army discipline, the church was present in his life from childhood. Kantaryan grew up in a religious family, where most of his relatives sang in the church choir.
This childhood experience ultimately determined his further choice. After his military service in the navy, Kantaryan went to Smolensk. There he began working as a driver for the diocesan administration and became a subdeacon to Bishop Feodosius (Protsyuk) of Smolensk and Vyazemsk.
He was soon ordained a deacon in the Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk, and later a priest. At the same time, he studied in absentia at the Moscow Theological Seminary.
Mykola Kantaryan (center) near the Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk, where he was ordained a deacon.
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He headed the Church of Moldova in 1989, and was elevated to the rank of metropolitan in December 1992. Today, the majority of Orthodox believers in Moldova are subordinate to Vladimir. About 95% of the population, that is, 2.3 million people, are Orthodox Christians.
But in addition to the Moldovan Metropolis of the Moscow Patriarchate, which Volodymyr heads, there is also the Bessarabian Metropolis of the Romanian Orthodox Church. They have been competing with each other for years. The Great War exacerbated this competition.
On July 21, 1989, Volodymyr was ordained Bishop of Chisinau (Moldova). On April 4, 1990, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
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From the first days of the Great War, Metropolitan Volodymyr reacted to it as a politician: on the one hand, he called for peace and assistance to refugees, but on the other, he did not mention in his official messages who exactly started the war.
This prompted about 200 priests of the MOC to switch to the side of the church associated with Romania.
Metropolitan Volodymyr conducts services in place of Patriarch Kirill, receives an award from him, and participates in the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church
The Great War put Volodymyr in an awkward position. On February 24, 2022, he called on believers to pray for mutual understanding between peoples — due to missile strikes on Ukraine.
However, Russia and the Russian army were not mentioned in this message. The MOC received Ukrainian refugees within the walls of monasteries and collected donations. The Metropolis called for helping those fleeing the war and “opening their homes to them”.
In October 2022, Volodymyr traveled to Russia for the first time since the beginning of the Great War to take part in the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and the celebrations for the repose of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
There, he performed the same solemn liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra — instead of Patriarch Kirill, who was ill at the time. These services coincided with the anniversary of Vladimir Putin, so during the liturgy, the clergy prayed for Putin’s health.
And a few days later, Patriarch Kirill awarded Vladimir one of the highest awards of the Moscow Patriarchate — the Patriarchal Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, 1st degree.
Metropolitan Volodymyr leads the liturgy at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra near Moscow, October 8, 2022.
The Metropolitan explained that he received the order from Patriarch Kirill exclusively for his 70th birthday, and came to Russia for the celebrations at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, where he once studied at the seminary and theological academy. According to him, he wanted to “thank the pious Sergius for helping to preserve his health”.
At the same time, Vladimir called the leadership of the service in the Moscow region a duty under the Statute of the ROC as a member of its synod.
And praying for the health of the Russian President is an internal Russian rule: "There is a rule in Russia (the feast of St. Sergius on October 8 coincides with Putinʼs birthday on October 7) that Russian dioceses pray for Putin. I did not pray for Putin! There is a video. I stand there with my hands raised during prayer when the protodeacon pronounces Putinʼs name. So it was he who prayed for Putin, not me."
Metropolitan Volodymyr has been a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) since 2000.
Investigators from the Center for Investigative Journalism of Moldova discovered that the metropolitan participated in the ROC Synod on December 27, 2023 — at a meeting where they decided to pay funds for the restoration of churches in "Donbass and Novorossiya", establish ties with the "ministry of education" of four occupied Ukrainian regions, and build "spiritual educational centers" in Luhansk and Rovenki.
A meeting of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church at the Danilov Stavropegial Monastery in Moscow, led by Patriarch Kirill (center). Second behind him on the right is Metropolitan Volodymyr of Moldova, December 27, 2023.
Metropolitan Volodymyr also uses a Russian diplomatic passport. “I have visited many countries. I have been to Mount Athos, the Holy Land, America, China, and Japan. I need this diplomatic passport to go through customs more easily and not stand in line,” the metropolitan explains.
However, in September 2023, Volodymyr wrote a letter to Patriarch Kirill, in which he called the war a “war” and indicated that it was unleashed by Russia. The Metropolitan emphasized that due to the connection between MOC and ROC, the Moldovan Orthodox Church is perceived as a pro-Russian institution that promotes Russian interests in Moldova.
Vladimir also reproached Moscow for its indifference: Russia did not help the Moldovan church in any way and did not compensate for gas bills during the cold season.
In contrast, neighboring Romania, as he writes, finances its Bessarabian Metropolis, pays its priests good salaries and allocates millions of euros per year.
Deutsche Welle journalist Vitalie Celugeranu asked Vladimir about his attitude towards the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church and for which army he prays. The Metropolitan assured that he prays exclusively for the leadership of Moldova and for its National Army.
“The Patriarch is the leader of the entire church, and customs oblige me to remember him at the service. I do not say: ʼLord, give him the strength to do what he does,’ but I pray that God will give him wisdom.”
The head of UOC, Metropolitan Onufriy, twice awarded Volodymyr with the Order "For Merit to UOC"
After the outbreak of the Great War, Metropolitan Volodymyr received awards from the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Onufriy — orders “For Merit to UOC”.
After being publicly reported in 2025, the news about this disappeared from the official website of the Moldovan Metropolis, but it was recorded by religious scholar Oleksandr Brodetsky.
On March 11, 2025, a meeting of the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Moldova took place. It was there that Archbishop Peter of Ungheni and Nisporeni presented Metropolitan Volodymyr with the UOC Order of Saint Nicholas. According to Noi.md, Onufriy awarded Volodymyr as a token of gratitude for his work for the benefit of the Orthodox Church of Moldova and for the prayers offered for peace and prosperity among peoples.
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Onufriy (in the world Orest Berezovsky) has been the primate of UOC since 2014. He is a Bukovynian, like Metropolitan Volodymyr. After February 24, 2022, Onufriy found himself in a similar position. He called on Putin to immediately stop the “fratricidal war” and expressed support for the Ukrainian soldiers.
And on May 27 of the same year, UOC condemned the position of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill, on the war against Ukraine and rewrote its Statute, the main document by which the church lives. In simple words: they declared that they were now completely independent of Moscow.
However, in 2023, Onufriy and more than 20 other clergymen of the UOC MP were found to have Russian passports. Although the metropolitan himself stated that he “considers himself a citizen exclusively of Ukraine” and “has renounced Russian citizenship”, in July 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship.
This publication was produced as part of the Seizing Synergies project, implemented by n-ost and supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the BMZ.