Honored Artist of Russia Maria Shukshina, daughter of Vasily Shukshin and Lydia Fedoseeva-Shukshina, recorded a video message from the Sredneuralsky nunnery captured by the disgraced priest Sergius and the Cossacks. In a recording posted on YouTube, the actress supported the priest and announced a "digital concentration camp" that is allegedly being created in Russia.
The actress stressed that there is no extremism in her words. “We see how the West lives, on what values the whole life of America and the West is built. We still preserve some traditional values, family values, but this is all very sad,”she added.
Shukshina said that in a conversation with her, priest Sergius admitted that he honors her father, artist Vasily Shukshin, "also a fierce, ardent fighter for justice."
The seizure of the Convent of the Breads convent by Sergius became known on June 16. Father Sergiy began to lead services, despite being banned from ministry for public denial of the coronavirus. On June 17, he released a video message in which he responded to the accusations of the seizure of the monastery and explained that he stayed in the monastery for the sake of the nuns, "their children."
It was argued that the territory of the monastery was guarded by Cossacks, supposedly called up to protect against provocations. After reports of this, FSB officers and police officers visited the monastery, and the Orenburg Cossack Military Society (OVKO) renounced the Cossacks who had captured the monastery. On July 3, the ecclesiastical court deprived Sergius of the rank of schema-abbot, finding him guilty of violating the priestly oath and monastic vows; the decision must be approved by the patriarch.
Shukshina starred in the British TV series "McMafia" and the films "Fir Trees 3", "Burnt by the Sun 2: Anticipation", "Bury Me Behind the Skirting Board" and "American Daughter".
