Crossword Genius

Russian holy man heading for Romania, like the Russian president (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rasputin

'russian holy man' is the definition.
(Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin)

'heading for romania like the russian president' is the wordplay.
'heading for' says to take the initial letters.
'like' becomes 'as'.
'the russian president' becomes 'putin' (Vladimir Putin).
The first letter of 'romania' is 'r'.
'r'+'as'+'putin'='RASPUTIN'

(Other definitions for rasputin that I've seen before include "Influential Russian mystic" , "Infamous Russian monk" , "sinister Russian" , "Alexandra's favourite" , "Holy man influential in Russian court" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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