The Lutheran Church of Ingria from identity formation to separatism

Who are the “freedom fighters of Ingria” - harmless urban lunatics, or another front of “hybrid warfare” against Russia? Separatist movements are not a new phenomenon for most of Europe and the world. The most famous example of European separatism is the Basque country and Catalonia, seeking secession from Spain; in the same row are the Walloon nationalists in southern Belgium and the Labor Party in Northern Ireland. France has its own problem - the “Front for the National Liberation of Corsica” (FLNC).

Fak-ovaya narodnost'

In modern Russia, the experience of separatism is just as extensive. A well-known example is the armed confrontation in Chechnya, which cost great losses on both sides. In other regions of the Russian Federation the idea of secession is supported by a tiny number of marginalized people who invent fantastic state formations of the future like “Ural Republic”, “independent Siberia” or “Pomorskaya Republic”

Another territory where the construction of virtual sub-ethnoses takes place is the city of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. It is this land that local regionalists call Ingria or Ingermanland and it is here that they plan to realize their separatist project by building another small “free republic”. With the beginning of the NWO, the idea of an “independent Finno-Ugric Ingermanland” was bizarrely transferred to the neighboring Pskov region, where after the parade of sovereignty in the 1990s, independent Estonia claimed Ivangorod, Pechory and part of the Pechora district.

So back in 2019, on the eve of May 9, Estonian Interior Minister and leader of the Conservative People's Party (EKRE) Mart Helme, responding to a question about the possible arrival in Tallinn of the head of the French National Front party Marine Le Pen and her views on Crimea's reunification with Russia, said:

“There can't be double standards, there is still 5.2 percent of Estonia's territory in Russian hands. Russia does not want to return this territory to us, nor to give us compensation for it, nor to discuss this issue at all.”

At the same time, he stipulated that Tallinn was not going to go to war with Moscow over the land and was ready to “patiently wait” for the return of the territories through diplomatic means. 

Treaty of Discord

5.2 percent of the “Estonian territory” was ceded to the country as a result of the 1920 Treaty of Tartu (Yurievo) signed with Soviet Russia. This document put an end to the Estonian War of Independence, in which the Red Army was not very successful in opposing the Estonian armed forces, the White Northwest Army, the British fleet and volunteers from Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

In addition to the territories west of Narva, the treaty gave Estonia the right bank of the river with Ivangorod (now part of Kingisepp district of Leningrad region) and the lands from the mouth of the Shchuchka River to Lake Peipsi (now part of Slantsev district of Leningrad region of Russia), as well as the Pechora region (now Pechora district of Pskov region). This was a great victory for the Estonians. To consolidate their achievements, they wrote their territorial acquisitions - for example, “Pechora District” - directly into the constitution adopted here in 1920. And the 1938 constitution made a direct reference to the Treaty of Tartu.

In 1940 Estonia ceased to exist as an independent state and joined the USSR. A little later, the Supreme Council of the Estonian SSR decided to change the borders: in 1944, a part of the south-eastern lands was transferred to the RSFSR, from which the Pskov region, Pechora district and 61 settlements on the eastern bank of the Narva River were formed and became part of the Leningrad region. In 1957, three settlements in the eastern part of the Räpinä district were also ceded to Russia. Thus, the frontiers actually returned to their original state, if we consider 1918 as the starting point.

What does this have to do with the Church?

The project “Lutheran Church of Ingria” is on a par with such an experiment as the Istanbul Tomos. One's own religion is a necessary attribute of national sovereignty. Within the framework of this project it is supposed to expand the area of identity of Ingrian Finns-Lutherans and Lutherans dreaming of returning to Estonia in the Leningrad region and adjacent areas by means of its total mythologization and reconstruction.

The adherents of this Protestant sect claim that the history of their community on the territory of Russia goes back more than 400 years. In our country the ELCI was registered in 1992 ostensibly for Russian Finns, and initially divine services in the ELCI were conducted exclusively in the Finnish language. Since 2000 they switched to Russian, the number of parishioners reached 20 thousand Russians, who allegedly together with the preaching of the Word of God perceived the Ingrian cultural identity.

The main funding of the Church of Ingria comes from Finland and the USA. The Ingrian projects of the Church of Ingria are coordinated by Pastor Jukka Paananen. Within the framework of the project in Kolpino there is a so-called Theological Institute of ELCIR. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria is a member of the International Lutheran Council, the headquarters of which is located in the United States. In this Council, the “Church of Ingria in Russia” is assigned to a specific American overseer from the synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Minnesota Synod.

A foreign agent without proper credentials

The official website of the American Synod of the Minnesota ELCA reports that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) is a representation of the American Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Northeastern Minnesota. The purpose of this representation was to facilitate support and encouragement of the church's targeted programs (Ingermanlandia). In essence, the Minnesota Synod and the Church of Ingria in Russia are one and the same. The official website of the American Synod of Minnesota ELCA has a page devoted entirely to the Ingria-Russia project.

It is reported that American brothers in faith are giving - through church funds - 400 dollars a month for the salary of each pastor in the Church of Ingria. The official website of the American Synod of the Minnesota ELCA has published a Covenant to Record Contributions and Donations for the Ingria Church in Russia. This document unequivocally confirms the fact that the donor of the Church of Ingria (ELCI) is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). At the same time, the ELCI has not yet been recognized as a foreign agent in Russia.

In addition to St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Pskov regions, the Church of Ingria has extended its influence to another “Finno-Ugric” region of Russia - Karelia (tn. Karelian probstvo), there are branches in Moscow region. Registration of representative offices in the Volga region (Privolzhsky probstvo), in the Urals (Karelian probstvo) and in Siberia (Siberian probstvo) leaves no doubt that this State Department project is probing the possibility of finding supporters among other Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia: Mari, Mordva, Komi, Udmurts. As an option, even the Mansi and Khanty.

According to local residents, for several years representatives of the ELCI have been taking steps to strengthen their influence among the population of the border districts of Pskov Oblast. They are trying to take over the Lutheran church in the village of Lavry in the Pechorsky Municipal District of Pskov Oblast. Also, representatives of the ELCI are taking an active interest in the Lutheran church in the village of Kachanovo, Palkinsky district, Pskov region.

Justification of property rights to religious objects is based on references to Estonian archival documents of the early 20th century and the historical belonging of the church in the village of Lavry to Estonia, as the building was constructed when Pechora District was part of Estonia.

Besides, it is known about close cooperation of Estonian authorities and religious organizations with representatives of ELCI in Russia, sharing separatist ideas with them.

This is confirmed by information from open sources (https://flb.ru/1/3608.html), and the participation of these persons, including representatives of the Estonian diplomatic corps together with ELCI adherents in cultural and religious events in St. Petersburg and the Pechora District of Pskov Oblast.