MOSCOW: A Russian Orthodox cleric who was once influential in Moscow was detained in the Czech Republic after containers of a suspicious white substance were found in his car, his representatives said on Monday.

Bishop Hilarion was once considered the right-hand man of Patriarch Kirill — the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, before allegedly falling out of favour with Moscow’s spiritual authorities and being sent abroad.

On Sunday, four containers of “a white substance” were found by police in the trunk of Hilarion’s car, a statement on his Telegram channel said, adding that the clergyman “categorically denies” any allegations of drug possession.

The Czech Drug Enforcement Centre said that “it initiated measures relating to a vehicle in the Central Bohemian Region,” based “on an anonymous tip-off reporting the transport of narcotic and psychotropic substances.” Czech police said that a man was detained on Sunday evening on a highway between Karlovy Vary and Prague, adding that “interrogations are underway and no one has been charged yet,” while not disclosing the identity of the detainee. The questioning has been ongoing for six hours, the bishop’s representatives said.

In the Telegram statement, Hilarion said: “I have no connection and have never had any connection to the illegal trafficking of narcotic substances.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the incident as an “orchestrated provocation” aimed at discrediting Hilarion and called for his immediate release.

Hilarion, who led the church’s foreign relations department for 13 years, was seen as a potential successor to Patriarch Kirill until he was unexpectedly sent to lead the Hungarian diocese in 2022, shortly after the Ukraine war began.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2026