As of: March 29, 2024, 10:19 p.m
By: Felix Busjaeger
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This photo published by Russian state news agency Sputnik via AP shows Vladimir Putin congratulating Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. Kirill has currently taken a clear stance on the war in Ukraine. (Archive image) © Aleksander Kazakov/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa
Officially, the Ukraine war is a “special operation” in Russia. But the rhetoric is changing. A document now speaks of holy war.
Moscow – For a long time, those responsible for Russia were careful not to describe the Russian invasion as a war in Ukraine. The desired rhetoric was to speak of a “special operation”. However, since Vladimir Putin's so-called success in the last Russian election, the reality has changed: after almost two years of heavy fighting in the neighboring country, there was talk of war for the first time in Russia - but the term "special operation" is still considered the norm. However, the chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, now agrees with the new statements and sees the country in a holy war against the West.
Ukraine war described as a holy war: Patriarch Kirill sees Russia in the fight against satanism
During a congress of the World Russian People's Council, at which the country's religious, political and cultural figures exchange ideas, members adopted a document that addresses many of Russia's cultural and social positions. Under the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who is considered a close confidant of Vladimir Putin, a further spiritual basis and justification for the Russian invasion was created on March 27th. Officially, the letter has no direct connection to the Russian Orthodox Church, but many clergy and public figures associated with the church belong to the council.
“From a spiritual and moral point of view, the special military operation is a holy war in which Russia and its people defend the only spiritual space of Holy Russia,” the World Russian People's Council document says, among other things. The Council further states that Russia must “protect the world from the onslaught of globalism and the victory of the West,” which has fallen into satanism. Meanwhile, Putin's Russia is also said to be waging a spiritual war in Africa.
Putin friend Kirill on the Ukraine war: Fight for the future of Christianity and against “forces of evil”
However, the fact that Kirill takes a clear stance on the war in Ukraine and, as a clergyman, does not appeal for a ceasefire or peace is not a new development: Shortly after the fighting broke out almost two years ago, the Patriarch made it clear that Ukraine and Belarus are part of “Russian countries”. As
Newsweek
reports, Kirill described the Ukrainian defenders as “forces of evil.” In addition, he was already of the opinion that Putin's war in Ukraine was a fight for the future of Christianity.
The war in Ukraine has increasingly developed into a material battle in recent months and Ukraine continues to rely on arms supplies from the West. Hundreds of soldiers die on the fronts every day, casualties are high and there is no end in sight to the war in Ukraine. But Kirill and the People's Council outlined in their document how they envision Ukraine's future: After the war, "the entire territory of modern Ukraine should fall into the zone of exclusive influence of Russia," the letter says. In addition, a “Russophobic regime and a political regime that is controlled from an external, anti-Russian center” should be excluded in the future.
Reaction to statement on the Ukraine war: Ukrainian Church distances itself
A reaction to the statements of the World Russian People's Council on the course of the war in Ukraine followed a little later: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which was historically linked to the Moscow Patriarchate, has clearly distanced itself. As
Ukrainska Prava
writes, the UOC does not represent the ideology of the Russian world outlined in the document of the World Russian People's Council. “His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufrii of Kiev [has] long publicly expressed our Church's stance on this idea: We are not building a Russian world, we are building God's world,” it said in a statement.
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The UOC added: The statement that the so-called special military operation is a “holy war” contradicts the basic principles of Christian morality. However, it is more than questionable to what extent this morality currently plays a role in the Ukraine war for Putin, who sees himself as a devout Christian. A year ago it was estimated that Russia's army destroyed up to 500 religious buildings in Ukraine - the number is now said to be much higher.
(fbu)