93-Year-Old Nun: In the USSR, We Were Called 'American Spies'

KYIV — On July 28, the feast day of the holy martyr Alevtina, the oldest abbess of a monastery in Ukraine, Mother Alevtina Siruk, celebrated her 93rd name day. Mother Alevtina received congratulations and warm wishes for her name day from many guests, including Bishop Pimen and representatives of the Rovno Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In a conversation with the diocese’s press service, Mother Alevtina recalled the difficult years of her youth when she was sent to a women’s camp in Karaganda for professing the Orthodox Christian faith.

“They called us American spies,” the elderly nun said about the treatment of believers.

Mother Alevtina was initially assigned to the 10th brigade for hard labor—carrying stones. However, the Most Holy Theotokos interceded: an elderly neighbor of Mother Alevtina managed to have her transferred to work with the disabled. “We tended the garden, planted, and swept. It was easier,” she recalls.

Despite the harsh regime, Mother Alevtina remained faithful to God: “On Sundays, we didn’t work—we prayed. If you didn’t go to work, you were sent to solitary confinement. The camp chief would ask why I wasn’t going, and I’d stay silent and smile…”

Diocese representatives note that Mother Alevtina’s life is a quiet but powerful sermon about fidelity, endurance, and love for God.

Archbishop Pimen conveyed his congratulations through the Rovno Diocese administration. Mother Alevtina’s story is a living testament to how faith helped Christians survive during the Soviet persecution of the Church.

As a reminder, Metropolitan Alexiy of Voznesensk and Pervomaisk stated that attempts to destroy the Church, similar to those of the Soviet regime, continue today but will not succeed.

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