A NEW Russian Orthodox app, Zosima, has been quietly launched in Russia, amid concerns over privacy regarding the potential amount of personal data that it could collect. Initially released for Android users on the Google Play Store in late September, the app was swiftly withdrawn and is expected to be launched officially at the end of this month.

The app developers say that it will enable users to connect with their parishes and clergy and to receive updates from fellow parishioners. It is also said to be a messaging service. Fr Zosima is the name of the celebrated starets in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.

The social-networking platform was originally due to be launched at the end of 2024, but the deadline was postponed. Nearly a year later, it has not gained official backing from the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

“We are not aware of this project, and the initiative has not been discussed with the relevant church institutions,” the deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society and the Media, Vakhtang Kipshidze, said, The Moscow Times reported.

The app was scrutinised by reporters and users over the scope of personal information requested, including highly sensitive data such as passport details, addresses, income, workplaces, and military-service records. The app can be linked to Gouslugi, the Russian government’s digital portal for state and municipal services.

The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation warned that the app and the concerns about privacy constituted “yet another illustration of how the Kremlin, under a religious guise, builds a system of total surveillance over its own citizens”.