Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now into its fourth year, brought the status of the Russian Orthodox Church in Estonia under scrutiny, given its parent organization is in effect a Kremlin tool.

The complaint was jointly issued by the Russian Orthodox Pühtitsa Convent, also known as the Kuremäe Convent, located in Ida-Viru County.

The Supreme Court decision effectively upholds a previous court ruling that dismissed the complaint.

Sworn advocates Steven-Hristo Evestus and Artur Knjazev, acting for the MPEÕK and Pühtitsa Convent, explained that their appeal to the court was prompted by disagreement with the Riigikogu's statement.

The Riigikogu statement made May 6 last year referred to the Moscow Patriarchate itself.

According to Evestus and Knjazev, the statement "does not exclude MPEÕK and Pühtitsa Convent from the list of supporters of the Russian Federation's military aggression."

The complainants argue that the Riigikogu overstepped its bounds when making this statement and failed to take into account that the Russian Orthodox Church is a multi-million-strong and multinational community.

They contend that its canonical structure includes independent churches and monasteries, including the MPEÕK and Pühtitsa Convent, adding that the Riigikogu did not ensure adequately its wording would not infringe upon religious organizations registered in Estonia or provoke hostility toward them.

Furthermore, the lawyers argue that the Riigikogu did not hear out the representatives of the church and convent before making the statement, which, they argue, violated the complainants' right to reply.

The MPEÕK and Pühtitsa Convent originally submitted their complaints to the first-tier Tallinn Administrative Court in September last year, requesting the elimination of unlawful consequences caused by the Riigikogu's statement titled "Declaring the Moscow Patriarchate an institution supporting the military aggression of the Russian Federation," and their removal from the list of supporters of military aggression.

However, the administrative court rejected the complaint.

Following this, on March 11, the Supreme Court also decided not to take on the complaint for proceedings.

In response to these concerns, at the end of last year, representatives of both the MPEÕK and the Pühtitsa Convent submitted a similar complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

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