"The world has taken up arms against us," combative Murmansk church leader Mitrofan says during visit to NATO border

“This is our vanguard in the Northwest. Here we stand, and here we will remain standing. Do you understand that, everybody?” the controversial chief prelate said during his visit to Borisoglebsk, the small piece of Russian land located on the western shore of the Pasvik River.

Mitrofan is making it a tradition to pay a visit to Borisoglebsk in early August in connection with the annual church celebration of the two Orthodox saints. Like last year, he arrived to the Russian-Nordic borderland together with a group of his most trusted prelates, among them Bishop Tarasii of Severomorsk.

Metropolitan Mitrofan on the 7th of August 2024 paid a visit to the Church of Boris and Gleb on border to Norway. Photo: mmeparh.ru

With his country at war and his church a staunch supporter of the onslaught, Mitrofan is using his visits to Borisoglebsk as opportunity to lash out against the West and the Nordic neighbours.

The border to Norway is located only few hundred meters away and Finland – only few kilometres.

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