Russia arrests 2 men for stealing icon Putin donated to island monastery

Russian authorities referred to on Thursday they'd arrested two guys suspected of tunneling their way with the aid of nighttime into an island monastery and stealing a Russian Orthodox icon donated years earlier with the aid of President Vladimir Putin.

The FSB protection carrier referred to it had detained two people with the aid of the police for a theft that took area final month at a cathedral within the Iversky monastery in Novgorod place, some 350 km (220 miles) northwest of Moscow.

the two people, who the FSB mentioned were part of a criminal gang, had stolen golden ornaments and an icon depicting the Virgin Mary at a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, a vital Orthodox spiritual middle. The icon, it said, dated returned to the seventeenth or 18th century.

Irina Volk, the spokeswoman of the interior Ministry, said Putin had given the icon to the monastery, discovered on an island on Lake Valdayskoye, as a present in 2001.

She said the burglars had reached the island by using boat, earlier than digging a passage below the monastery's gates. as soon as on its territory, they smashed some of the cathedral's windows and broke in to steal the icon, the altar move and other gold adorns.

photos released through the ministry confirmed armed FSB officers getting into a suspect's home and pinning him face down on the floor together with his arms cuffed behind his back.

Volk stated the altar pass and the icon had been recovered in one of the suspects' storage and that the items would soon be returned to the monastery.

Icons are an integral part of Russian Orthodox culture and are current at areas of worship and used all the way through spiritual celebrations. cnxps.cmd.push(function () cnxps( playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' ).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); ); var cont = `sign up for The Jerusalem post premium Plus for simply $5Upgrade your analyzing adventure with an ad-free atmosphere and unique content material

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