Fr. Alexei Pluzhnikov writes that he was invited to a meeting with the regional government and quotes part of their conversation: "You understand well ...you have a psychological influence ... you could invite people to vote for United Russia", the priest was told.
As far as the pastor reports, the meeting was also attended by other priests. Fr. Alexei underlines that in the "Social Doctrine of the Russian Church," there are areas in which the ecclesiastical structures "can not provide assistance to the State, or cooperate with it."
One of the areas, said the priest, is "electoral propaganda in favour of a certain party or leader."