President Vladimir Putin’s spiritual adviser has been appointed to a diocese in annexed Ukrainian territory.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided Wednesday to appoint Metropolitan Tikhon to head the Diocese of Crimea, located in an occupied region of Ukraine.
Tikhon is known to be a close ally of the Russian president and has been characterized as “Putin’s confessor” by experts.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Orthodox Church Metropolitan Tikhon, left, during the opening ceremony of the monument to Prince Alexander Nevsky and His Guard in Samolva Villiage outside of Pskov, Russia. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
In many Christian churches, a “confessor” is a priest who hears an individual’s confessions and offers absolution for sins.
Tikhon and Putin have been photographed together on multiple occasions, including in March of this year when the pair visited…