The convent used its retail network to promote the ideas of Russian irredentism and its head priest supported the capture of Crimea by Russia. In 2017, Russian GRU lieutenant colonel Anton Manshin gave a talk at the convent describing his participation in the Russian army's Chechen, Ukrainian, and Syrian campaigns and promoting the ideas of the Russian world. The editor of the convent's website later said that Manshin's invitation was their mistake. In the same year, the convent hosted an exhibition dedicated to the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family.