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Belarusian Nuns Collecting Money in French Churches Accused of Funding Russian Military
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Nuns from the Saint Elisabeth Convent in Minsk, Belarus, have been touring French Catholic churches to sell religious icons and souvenirs purportedly for charity, despite mounting evidence that their convent supplies material aid to Russian forces in Ukraine, according to an investigation by Ouest-France, posted on September 2.
In the coastal town of Les Sables-d’Olonne, the nuns recently spent several weeks in August collecting cash donations under the guise of funding orphanages and psychiatric hospitals, a practice they have replicated across France for years, Ouest-France reported.
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The convent’s leadership maintains deep, public ties to the Belarusian regime and openly champions the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ouest-France revealed. Archpriest Andrei Lemeshonok, the monastery’s spiritual father, has repeatedly used his platform to support the war, declaring in a May 2025 message that the monastery operates as a “combat unit” and urging prayers for Russian “warriors.”
Ouest-France also noted that the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, visited the convent in January 2023, specifically praising the facility for organizing collections to support Russian troops on the battlefield.
The financial and logistical pipeline to the front lines is coordinated through a dedicated project dubbed “Help for Brothers,” Ouest-France reported based on an analysis of the convent’s Telegram channels. Led by Sister Alexandra in Minsk and coordinated in Russia by Sister Evgenia of the Saint Mary Magdalene convent in Orel, the network has successfully delivered drones, military boots, medical supplies, and at least nine all-terrain vehicles directly to Russian combat units, according to the Ouest-France investigation.
The French newspaper highlighted video evidence showing a Russian soldier explicitly thanking Sister Alexandra for a drone donation, alongside photos of the nun posing with a Russian flag bearing the pro-war “Z” symbol.
Operating more like a corporate holding than a traditional monastery, the Saint Elisabeth Convent controls seven companies, employs roughly 1,600 people, and manages extensive agricultural and retail operations, according to independent Belarusian investigative media cited by Ouest-France.
When questioned by the French newspaper, the nuns vehemently denied that funds collected in France are used for military purposes, insisting their French revenue strictly finances homeless shelters and orphanages. However, Ouest-France pointed out that the cash-based nature of the church sales makes tracing the exact destination of the European donations virtually impossible.
The presence of the pro-Russian nuns has sparked controversy within the French Catholic Church, where local priests are left to navigate the geopolitical fallout without institutional guidance, Ouest-France observed.
Father Antoine Nouwavi, the parish priest in Les Sables-d’Olonne, told Ouest-France he had previously suspended the nuns' visits but allowed them back this summer after receiving a written assurance from the Mother Superior, noting that he would need concrete proof from the French Foreign Ministry to permanently ban them.
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While the French government and the national bishops' conference declined to comment to Ouest-France, the publication highlighted that churches in the United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland have already banned the Minsk nuns over their role in financing the Russian war effort.
In another demonstration of pro-Russian clergy aligning with the war effort, Metropolitan Mitrofan of Murmansk previously brought military priests and Russian war veterans to a church directly on the Norwegian border for a religious service.
Mitrofan—a vocal supporter of the invasion who has described the border with Nordic states as a “spiritual border” against evil—defended Russia’s military during the gathering while accompanied by veterans and priests with direct operational ties to Russian combat units in Ukraine.
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