Putin's special representative spotted at liturgy in memory of Georgian Patriarch in Tbilisi
Kyiv • UNN
Mikhail Shvydkoy and Russian clergy arrived in Georgia for the farewell to Patriarch Ilia.
Mikhail Shvydkoy, special representative of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for international cultural cooperation, has arrived in Tbilisi, UNN reports with reference to "News Georgia".
Details
Footage circulating online shows Shvydkoy speaking with a representative of the Georgian clergy.
The Georgian service of Radio Free Europe notes that Shvydkoy has repeatedly visited Georgia and met with Ilia II. One such meeting took place on December 24, 2008, in Tbilisi as part of a conference organized at the initiative of the Patriarchate.
"The settlement of disputed issues between Russia and Georgia will take a long time, while today there are all opportunities for the development of cultural, humanitarian, and economic ties between the two countries," Shvydkoy stated in 2013.
Additionally
It also became known that a large delegation of clerics from Russia, led by Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Veniamin (Tupeko), arrived in Tbilisi to bid farewell to the patriarch.
Sova reports that the presence of Russian clergy at the liturgy for Ilia II's funeral was in question due to the visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Tbilisi. Due to a long-standing conflict, eucharistic communion between the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates has been completely severed.