The head of the ROC diocese in Kazakhstan was killed in an accident in Nizhny Novgorod region

Archbishop of Kokshetau and Akmola Serapion (Sergey Kolosnitsyn) died in a traffic accident in Nizhny Novgorod region. This was reported in the press service of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) on January 28.

"On the night of January 27-28, 2025 in a car accident died Archbishop Serapion of Kokshetau and Akmola, ruling bishop of the Kokshetau diocese of the Metropolitan District of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan," - stated in the message on the website of the ROC.

It was specified that the accident occurred on a section of the highway M-12 near the village of Pilna, Nizhny Novgorod region. The archbishop was on his way from Kazakhstan's Kokshetau to Moscow to participate in Christmas readings.

The press service reported that the churchman died on the spot from injuries incompatible with life.

Hieromonk Yevlogy (Shcherbak), cleric of the Resurrection Cathedral of Kokshetau, who was accompanying Serapion, was hospitalized with a concussion.

Archbishop Serapion of Kokshetau and Akmola was born in 1964 in Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan. He studied at the Moscow Theological Seminary and in 1988 was admitted to the brotherhood of the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. In 2013 he was elected Bishop of Kokshetau and Akmola. In May 2022, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop at a liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow by Patriarch Kirill.