Moscow, September 25, 2026
patriarchia.ru
His Eminence Archbishop Zosima (Ostapenko), who was living in retirement in Moscow, reposed in the Lord on this morning, at 76 years old, reports Patriarchia.ru.
He served as a hierarch of the Church for 31 years.
May his memory be eternal!
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Archbishop Zosima was born on July 12, 1950, in the village of Novocherkasskoye in the Tselinograd Province of Kazakhstan to a family of office workers, and was orphaned in 1964.
He finished boarding school in 1968 and served in the Soviet Army from 1968 to 1970. He then enrolled in the Moscow theological schools and was appointed a psalm reader at the Dormition of the Mother of God Church in Makhachkala.
On December 13, 1981, he was ordained to the diaconate, and to the priesthood on December 27. He served at various churches over the coming years.
On August 21, 1987, he was tonsured a monk with the name Zosima. He was elevated to the rank of igumen and appointed dean of Orthodox parishes in the Russian Republic of Kalmykia.
On October 6, 1995, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite, and on the same day was elected bishop of Elista and Kalmykia. His was consecrated to the episcopacy on December 24.
He was elevated to the rank of Archbishop on February 24, 2006.
By a decision of the Holy Synod on March 22, 2011, he was assigned to the Vladikavkaz See. By a decision of the Holy Synod on October 5, 2011, he was confirmed as abbot of the Alan Dormition Monastery in the village of Khidikus in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania.
By a decision of the Holy Synod on June 3, 2016, he was retired for health reasons, with Moscow designated as his place of residence. On October 21, 2016, he was appointed to serve as Bishop of Solikamsk and Chusovoy. On May 4, 2017, he was confirmed as abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Solikamsk.
He retired again on July 24, 2025.
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