The real purpose of the visit of Metropolitan Varfolomiy of Rivne and Ostroh of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate to Moscow was not to participate in the events of the 10th anniversary of Patriarch Kirill's enthronement, but a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation in order to request pardon for a head of one of the most influential Russian gangs Finagin Sergei Viktorovich, dubbed in the criminal world as “Fin”), a leader of the criminal Kingisepp group, which arose in 1992 in Moscow. This is reported by the site Rivnenski Novyny (Rivne news) with a link to blog.meta.ua.
The real purpose of the visit of Metropolitan Varfolomiy of Rivne and Ostroh of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate to Moscow was not to participate in the events of the 10th anniversary of Patriarch Kirill's enthronement, but a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation in order to request pardon for a head of one of the most influential Russian gangs Finagin Sergei Viktorovich, dubbed in the criminal world as “Fin”), a leader of the criminal Kingisepp group, which arose in 1992 in Moscow. This is reported by the site Rivnenski Novyny (Rivne news) with a link to blog.meta.ua.
The Metropolitan asks Putin to “show mercy and give Sergey Finagin a chance to return to society and our church family.”
The criminal group was formed mainly from people from Kingisepp, Leningrad region of the Russian Federation, which specialized in contract assassinations, extortions and even terrorist acts from 1992 till 2006.
Finagin was detained in 2006 and served his sentences in various correctional facilities.
According to Russian media, Finagin is a real killer, well-versed in using all kinds of firearms and cold weapons, techniques for hand-to-hand combat. He behaves inadequately in critical situations. He is extremely aggressive, capable of unmotivated murders.