Ivankovich Nikita Sergeevich

Nikita Ivankovich is an ethnic Ukrainian and a graduate of the Sretensky Theological Seminary and the Saints Cyril and Methodius Institute for Post-Graduate and Doctoral Studies; he served as an altar server at a church in Moscow’s Sokolniki district and sang in the church choir. He was detained on February 12, 2025, and remanded to a pre-trial detention center the following day. Ivankovich is accused of plotting a terrorist act—specifically, an assassination attempt on Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov), who is considered Vladimir Putin’s "spiritual father" — in collaboration with a friend, Denys Popovych, who is also a church worker. The young men allegedly planned to detonate a bomb in the Metropolitan’s living quarters at the Sretensky Monastery in order to "disrupt peace negotiations between the US and Russia regarding the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict." They are also charged with possession of explosives found by law enforcement in a cache in a Moscow park. In May 2026, it was revealed that criminal proceedings had been initiated against Ivankovich under three additional articles of the Russian Criminal Code: participation in a terrorist organization, undergoing training for terrorist activities, and unauthorized access to computer information. Ivankovich maintains his innocence and has stated that he was subjected to torture to coerce a confession. He faces a potential sentence of life imprisonment for the aggregate of the alleged crimes.