For Russian Spies, a Church All Their Own

For the occasion, the patriarch gave Nikolai Patrushev, chief of the FSB (formerly the KGB), an icon of his patron saint, St. Nicholas.

It is important that this church is located in the territory of an institution in which its officials "are engaged in a difficult service to protect the Russian state," Patrushev emphasized, in statements quoted by the Ria-Novosti news agency.

Alexy II congratulated the FSB for having established a church in its premises, following the example of the Interior and Defense Ministries.