He was released in 1927, when he supported the declaration of Metropolitan Sergius, who controversially pledged loyalty of the Church to the Soviet authorities without concurrence of numerous senior members of the Orthodox, including Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh), head of the Leningrad (St Petersburg) diocese, who was deposed and later executed. Nicholas was temporarily in charge of the diocese from September 1927 to February 1928. He was made Archbishop of Peterhof in 1935, and in 1936-1940 was additionally in charge of the Novgorod and Pskov dioceses.
