Sisters of St. Elisabeth Convent Continue Selling Goods in France

Sisters of Minsk’s St. Elisabeth Convent, known for its public support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, continue to travel to France and sell icons, souvenirs, honey and other goods in Catholic churches. Buyers are told that the proceeds are intended for charitable projects, French newspaper Ouest-France reports.

The newspaper published an investigation citing numerous indications that the convent collects money and provides material assistance to Russian soldiers involved in the war against Ukraine.

The report notes that in August, two nuns from the convent, Elena and Natalia, spent about three weeks selling goods outside the Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port in Les Sables-d’Olonne, Vendée. Their stall displayed icons, matryoshka dolls, religious souvenirs and food products with labels in French. Buyers were told that the convent helps children from an orphanage and a state psychiatric institution in Minsk. During an hour of observation, journalists counted several sales totaling about €50. A poster behind the stall explained that the convent provides assistance to children from an orphanage and a state psychiatric hospital.

The sisters have been traveling to France since at least 2018. They regularly organize sales exhibitions at Catholic parishes, including in Paris, Albi and Paray-le-Monial.

At the same time, the authors note, the convent has public ties to the Russian military and supports fundraising campaigns for it. The convent’s spiritual director, Archpriest Andrei Lemeshonok, has repeatedly spoken in support of the Russian army since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. In May 2025, he said that the convent “is also a combat unit today.”

In 2022, the convent launched the “Help the Brothers” project, which collects money and goods for Russian servicemen. The project’s publications feature military equipment, medicines, vehicles and drones. In one video, a Russian soldier thanks a nun named Alexandra for a drone that was provided to him. Another post reported the shipment of 100 pairs of military boots and medicines.

Based on photographs and Telegram posts, journalists were able to identify at least seven vehicles purchased for Russian soldiers between April and August 2023. They included UAZ Patriot, UAZ-469, UAZ SGR and VAZ-2131 vehicles. In September of the same year, nine vehicles were reported to have been delivered.

In response to the newspaper’s inquiry, the nuns defended themselves.

“Instead of judging the convent based on publications found on the internet, come and see its activities for yourself,” they wrote. “You will be able to see for yourself where the funds allocated for the development of the convent and its charitable activities go: the construction and maintenance of churches and chapels, a school, a shelter, and receiving and helping people who have found themselves in difficult circumstances.”

When asked about these publications, the sisters declined to go into detail.

“We do not want to engage in a dispute based on photographs, social media posts or interpretations concerning people and events about which we have no right to comment,” they told Ouest-France.

The convent is also involved in another organization that delivers aid to territories of Donbas occupied by Russia. Publications by the project also contain reports of assistance to Russian servicemen and their families.

It is practically impossible to verify the intended use of cash collected at the French stalls, the authors note. Buyers paid in cash. The convent, for its part, insists that funds collected during its missions in France are intended exclusively for charitable activities.

“We have never collected funds in France to finance military activities,” the nuns said in a written response to the newspaper.

At the same time, Sister Alexandra previously confirmed to Belsat TV that the convent purchases whatever Russian servicemen ask for. Journalists from the Russian-language project Vot Tak received similar information.

Ouest-France also draws attention to the scale of the convent itself. Founded in 1999, it has more than 100 nuns. According to the Bureau Media, the organization is linked to seven companies in Belarus and Russia and has dozens of shops, more than 10 workshops and over 300 hectares of land. Around 1,600 people work in organizations affiliated with the convent.

The convent has close ties to the Belarusian authorities. In January 2023, Aliaksandr Lukashenka visited it at Christmas and spoke positively about fundraising efforts to assist Russian servicemen.

In France, decisions on whether to receive the nuns remain at the level of individual parishes. The parish priest in Les Sables-d’Olonne, Antoine Nouwavi, noted that the nuns had been coming there even before he was appointed eight years ago and that they “provide their own accommodation and food at their own expense.” The first controversy erupted in 2022 over the support that representatives of the convent were providing to Russia. The priest then decided not to receive them in the summers of 2023 and 2024. Eventually, after receiving a letter from the convent, he agreed to allow them to return.

In the letter dated May 15, 2024, which Ouest-France obtained, the convent’s abbess Euphrosyne Laptik claimed that “all the information circulating on the internet is false.” She assured the newspaper that donations collected in France were sent “exclusively” to finance two shelters for homeless people and orphanages operated by the convent, without specifying which institutions she meant. In comments in Les Sables-d’Olonne, Sister Yelena also denied financing the Russian army. She explained in Spanish that the money was intended “for charity.”

“Our heart is big and open to everyone,” the nun said.

In response to an inquiry, the Diocese of Vendée said it was “not particularly informed” about the nuns’ visits and “trusts parish priest Antoine Nouwavi to determine the advisability and appropriateness of receiving this community.”

Father Antoine Nouvavi himself acknowledged that he had no means of verifying where the proceeds were actually going. He suggested that the French Foreign Ministry provide evidence of a connection between French donations and military assistance to Russia.

“I appeal to the Foreign Ministry. Let them provide us with evidence, and we will no longer receive these sisters. I am against the war,” he said.

The ministry responded that it “has no comment on this matter.”

In other European countries, similar situations have already led several institutions to close their doors to the sisters from Minsk. In 2022, the nuns had to leave a Christmas market at Winchester Cathedral in the UK. In 2024, following protests by the Belarusian diaspora, their stall in Szczecin, Poland, was shut down. In 2025, the Church of Sweden recommended that parishes not receive the nuns from Minsk, considering that their activities could indirectly contribute to financing Russia’s war. In 2026, a similar ban was introduced by one of the churches in Switzerland.

The sisters say they accept these decisions but do not share them.

“We respect them. It is their right,” they told the newspaper, adding that it would be “regrettable” if these decisions were presented “as evidence of the misuse of donations collected in France, without any specific facts confirming such a connection.”

In France, the dioceses have received no instructions. Neither the Foreign Ministry nor the French Bishops’ Conference responded to inquiries.

“Thus, the decision on whether to receive the sisters from Minsk remains with parish priests, who themselves say they have no way of verifying anything,” the newspaper concludes.