Estonia re-ups entry ban on head of Russian church

Estonia’s Foreign Ministry banned 58 Russians from entering the country on Friday, including the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, one of the most ardent supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.

“Patriarch Kirill is one of the greatest adherents and proponents of Putin’s ideology,” said Margus Tsahkna, the country’s foreign minister, in a press statement. “It was about time he was blacklisted. He has justified and abetted the war against Ukraine.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the statement, on Friday renewed the recently expired Magnitsky list, which allows Estonia to ban foreigners they found guilty of human rights abuses.

In 2022, the Ukrainians and the British imposed sanctions on Kirill, while a European Union effort in June 2022 was blocked by Hungary. But the European Parliament did adopt a resolution condemning Patriarch Kirill’s role in “providing theological cover for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The United States has not sanctioned the Orthodox leader, despite calls for action from Ukrainian activists and others.

In addition to barring Patriarch Kirill, the updated sanctions list added nine individuals who are not yet subject to EU sanctions and have targeted Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza.