Russian Bishop Removed Over Scandalous Poker Controversy

Recently, a Russian bishop, one of the most senior bishops in Europe, was suddenly removed from his position for “disciplinary reasons” within the Russian Orthodox Church. Still, the gossip suggests that the real reason was his sudden interest in poker.

Metropolitan Nestor has been removed from the priesthood following an investigation into his entering tournaments with church funds. Also, just a speculation, but there are talks that his gentler approach to the Ukrainian war also played a role.

Controversies Surrounding the Russian Bishop

The Metropolitan, who oversaw church communities in France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, had been dismissed and placed under investigation by the church, announced Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, on November 8, 2025.

Nestor was born in Moscow in 1974 as Evgeny Sirotenko and entered the Moscow Theological Seminary in 1995.

In 1998, he adopted the name Nestor by becoming a monk, and soon after, he was sanctified as a priest. He served the church communities all around France. Thanks to his consistent work, he advanced in the Church hierarchy and, in 2022, was appointed Metropolitan of Korsun and Western Europe. His new position was about managing Church operations across large parts of Western Europe

However, according to Google search, Sirotenko has been a recent visitor to the poker scene. He earned more than $47,000 in prize money, including 12 cashes in 2025 alone, at destinations such as the Netherlands, France, Cambodia , and the Czech Republic, as his Hendon Mob profile shows.

Sirotenko won a €350 tournament earlier this year at the Circus Club Paris, where he seems to be a regular player. He also recorded the largest cash of his career there, by winning a €500 tournament for €7,664.

Even though these records are not those of a Super High Roller, the Russian Orthodox Church disapproves of any level of gambling because the Orthodox canon law forbids the clergy from any games of chance.

Church Politics at Work

Patriarch Kirill was the one who decided to banish Nestor after hearing about his poker-playing habits in the last weeks. Novaya reported that Nestor travelled to the Czech Republic to meet with Metropolitan Hilarion, the former head of foreign relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, and a fellow bishop.

In 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine, Hilarion was banished from Russia, and he settled down in Karlovy Vary, which is just an hour away from King’s Resort in Rozvadov, where Nestor played and cashed a short while ago.

However, there is no proof that Nestor had played poker or visited King’s Resort during this trip. The poker scandal remains in the headlines, but Patriarch Kirill’s decision stems from another conflict over Nestor. The Patriarch’s problem might not be just the unwanted rehabilitation of Hilarion, but Nestor’s quiet disagreement about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The bishop signed a joint declaration in April of 2022, opposing the war with a Spanish Catholic archbishop, refusing to punish a priest from Madrid who called the war “satanic”.

Church members in Paris are stepping up in Nestor’s defence by collecting signatures and describing the bishop as a thoughtful and compassionate leader. Many of them stated that they would follow him if he broke with the Moscow Patriarchate and joined the more independent Church of Constantinople.

In the end, poker might be the accusation, but everyone knows the real battle is over power.