Armenian Diocese of Southern Russia

Diocese of Southern Russia Հարավային Ռուսաստանի թեմ Епархия Юга России
Church of St. John the Evangelist (Krasnodar, Russia)
Location
Country	Russia
Territory	Krasnodar and Stavropol krais, the republics of Adygea, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Abkhazia
Information
Denomination	Armenian Apostolic Church
Rite	Armenian Rite
Established	January 13, 1997
Cathedral	Church of St. John the Evangelist, Krasnodar
Current leadership
Patriarch	Karekin II
Bishop	Archbishop Movses (Movsesyan)

The Diocese of Southern Russia (Armenian: Հարավային Ռուսաստանի թեմ; Russian: Епархия Юга России) is a diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.^[1] The canonical territory of the diocese includes regions in the south of the European part of Russia: Krasnodar and Stavropol krais, the republics of Adygea, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, and, in fact, Abkhazia (officially, the territory of the latter belongs to the Georgian diocese).

On January 13, 1997, by decree of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin I, the Diocese of Russia and New Nakhichevan (under its jurisdiction were the Armenian churches of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, the Baltic States^[2] and Central Asia) was divided into three dioceses:^[3]

• The Diocese of Russia and New Nakhichevan with a see in Moscow^[4]
• The Diocese of the Southern of Russia with a see in Krasnodar^[5][6][7]
• The Diocese of Ukraine with a see in Lviv^[8][9]

On September 23, 2009, the residence of the Head of the Diocese was opened on the territory of the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Krasnodar.