PATRIARCH KIRILL of Moscow, praising the elite Russian Guard for its “glorious accomplishments” during the war against Ukraine, has reiterated his Church’s support for President Putin’s “most daring projects”.
“The past years have seen glorious accomplishments and many zealous efforts to protect state sovereignty and ensure public safety, law and order, and a peaceful life for our people,” the Patriarch said in a message to the Guard’s commander-in-chief, General Viktor Zolotov.
“It is gratifying to witness National Guard members honourably performing feats of arms in the area of the special military operation, demonstrating professionalism, dedication to duty, courage and perseverance in harsh conditions.”
The message was published on the Moscow Patriarchate’s website as the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, proposed an Easter ceasefire in the four-year conflict, and as a 17th-century monastic complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was badly damaged by an Iranian-made Russian drone in the western city of Lviv.
Dedicating a new church in western Moscow on Sunday — when a monastery, near Kherson, which belongs to Ukraine’s Moscow-linked Orthodox Church was also damaged by shelling during a Sunday liturgy — Patriarch Kirill said that Russian military heroes had worn “a cross around their necks” and “prayed before attacking”.
He said that the Orthodox faith instilled “moral qualities essential for national prosperity”, while people in “enlightened, educated, technologically and scientifically advanced Europe” abandoned God and faced “spiritual decline”.
“The tradition of church attendance shaped our great Russian Empire — it enabled soldiers and people to sacrifice themselves for the well-being of country and neighbour,” the Patriarch said.
“Our task now is to fertilise the soil, to care for these shoots so that Holy Rus rises to its full spiritual strength. This will be a tremendous help in realising the ambitious and daring projects currently pursued by our government, led by our Orthodox President, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.”
Speaking to journalists on Monday — when Ukrainian drones struck the Russian oil port of Taganrog, and Russian glide bombs killed three civilians and injured 13 at Kramatorsk — President Zelensky said that Ukrainians were ready to discuss a “complete ceasefire” and halt to “strikes on infrastructure”. They were also “ready for any compromises, except on dignity and sovereignty”.
The National Bank of Ukraine marked Holy Week by announcing a new banknote depicting the painted Easter egg, or pysanka, a UNESCO-recognised national emblem.
The Ukrainian representative at the United Nations, Andriy Melnyk, also addressed a UN event dedicated to the pysanka, telling fellow diplomats that it symbolised his country’s wartime resilience.
In a message last week, Patriarch Kirill wished “prosperity and success” to North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-Un, noting that his March re-election by the state assembly with 99.93 per cent of votes suggested “broad support” for his strengthening of the country’s “sovereignty and prosperity”.
