Russia's Valaam Monastery fires "anti-Semitic" hegumen who claims Jews descended from Khazars
The Valaam Monastery dismissed the head of the Sochi farmstead, shiigumen Gabriel (Vinogradov) from the post of hegumen because of scandalous sermons. This is stated in the Telegram channel of the monastery.
"Shiigumen Gabriel (Vinogradov) was dismissed from the post of head of the Sochi courtyard of the Valaam Monastery and the assigned skete from June 5, 2025," the monastery reported.
Hegumen wrote several books on apologetics and criticism of occultism and sectarianism, some of which became the reason to accuse the monk of anti-Semitism. In his works and sermons, he often criticis Jewish theology.
On February 22, 2024, Gabriel Vinogradov delivered a speech to the flock, in which he contrasted the "real" Sephardic Jews with "pseudo-Jews-Ashkenazi", whom he calls descendants of the Khazars converted to Judaism. According to him, during the Holocaust, the Sephardim sponsored the destruction of the Ashkenazis by the hands of the Nazis, and now allegedly modern Israelis and Jewish elites support Ukrainian neo-Nazis to continue this business.
Source: https://stmegi.com/posts/127290/valaamskiy-monastyr-uvolil-skhiigumena-za-antisemitskie-propovedi/