'Putin is pure evil' — Trump's spiritual advisor on Russia's war against Ukraine

When U.S. President Donald Trump paused military aid to Ukraine last month, the man described as his "spiritual advisor," Pastor Mark Burns, backed the decision.

This week, Burns is urging him to send Kyiv more tanks, fighter jets, and air defense.

"I now believe that supporting Ukraine is America first," he told the Kyiv Independent in an interview on April 9.

Burns's dramatic shift in stance comes after a trip to Ukraine where he witnessed the atrocities committed by Russia first-hand, visiting the site of a missile attack in Kryvyi Rih, which killed 20 people, including nine children.

The Kyiv Independent spoke with Burns to find out more about his visit, and why he's now urging everyone to "throw politics out the window" and back Ukraine.

Editor's note: The interview has been edited for language and clarity.

The Kyiv Independent: Can you describe what has caused you to change your stance on Ukraine?

Pastor Mark Burns: Obviously being on the ground in Ukraine has changed my opinion significantly. I am on record as being one of the staunch opponents of supporting Ukraine.

But it took me being in Kyiv, being at Bucha, seeing the atrocities that have taken place, innocent lives being killed, executed, and knowing the nearly 700 religious institutions have been intentionally targeted by the Russians, and 20,000 children have been kidnapped and deported back to Russia, not including the 1.3 million children that are unaccounted for.

When you hear these atrocities… It changed my perspective significantly. I now believe that supporting Ukraine is America first.

I am still a staunch supporter of who I believe is the greatest president in my lifetime — President Donald Trump.

And so my support for Ukraine is not a stab at him, but a call to every Republican, every conservative, every American, and those around the world who, like me, have been brainwashed by fake news media about Ukraine.

For instance, fake news suggested that Ukraine hated churches, Ukraine hated ministries, that they intentionally destroyed ministries.

Well, that is a bold-faced lie, because I was in the midst of some of Ukraine's greatest spiritual leaders from all different sects, religious organizations, in one room in Kyiv, and they all have the same common ground — they have the right to practice their faith in Ukraine.

When I was on the ground, and you're talking to these people, and once you see the atrocities at the hands of the Russians, politics goes out the window.

Just a couple of days ago nine children were killed, more innocent lives lost at the hands of the Russians.

My heart as a man of God begins to pour out, and I've been echoing that message ever since, that I was wrong. And the power of the cross teaches me to admit when you're wrong, to have a humbled heart, and to say 'I was wrong.'

Nobody paid me to go to Ukraine. I paid for my own tickets to get to Ukraine. Nobody brought me there with the hope that I would communicate their message.

This is simply human beings being destroyed at the hands of the Russians, and that's why my heart has become now a staunch supporter of supporting Ukraine.

I'm now echoing this message at the highest levels of government in the United States and around the world — that we need to get behind Ukraine. Russia is the aggressor.

And I'm very proud that President Trump has made it very clear that he is pissed off.

That's the words he used. Pissed off at (Russian President) Vladimir Putin. He's pissed at Vladimir Putin, and that he needs to come to the negotiating table immediately, or he will issue secondary tariffs on Russian oil, and go after the countries that are supporting or buying Russian oil.

And so that just shows you how determined the president is in getting this war ended.

If Russia doesn't come to the table for a peace negotiation, President Trump is not the man to be messed with.

Russia fears President Donald Trump, and they should, because I know him very deeply, very personally, and he's a man of true conviction.

The Kyiv Independent: You were at Kryvyi Rih, the site of a missile attack last week, which killed 20 people, including nine children. That attack came after Trump began peace talks and negotiations. Do you think that Trump is doing enough if Russia is still carrying out attacks like that?

Pastor Mark Burns: I think that Vladimir Putin is at the end of his rope. I think that he has tested the patience of President Donald Trump, and he's come to the end of it.

I'm leaving the negotiations to the professionals, the ones that President Trump has appointed.

The Kyiv Independent: Ultimately, all of the acts of violence against civilians and churches and everything else in Ukraine for the last more than three years now have been ordered by one man, Vladimir Putin. How do you describe a person who is capable of doing that?

Pastor Mark Burns: Evil, pure evil.

As a former United States South Carolina Army National Guard member and having been a trained infantryman, I understand attacking military strategic positions that house military outposts.

But to attack civilians, the elderly, women, children, hospitals, schools, this is beyond military advancement. That is just pure evil. And that is what Vladimir Putin has done.

And that's what he's continuing to do.

Ukraine is a sovereign nation, and they have been ruthlessly, relentlessly attacked by an aggressor called Russia, led by a man, dictator Vladimir Putin.

It is evil. And it should never be allowed.

The Kyiv Independent: You also spoke earlier about Russia's campaign against religious institutions and groups in Ukraine, including evangelical Christians. Yet, there are still people in the U.S. who profess to be evangelical Christians, and yet they're supporting Putin. How do you explain that?

Pastor Mark Burns: I posted (on social media) in the middle of the night at a hotel in Kyiv. I was laying in my bed and the Holy Spirit began to download to me things to say in my posts.

There was a video that one of my staff members put up, and it showed the third year anniversary of the Day of Liberation in Bucha.

And a very strong supporter of President Trump made this comment. And they said, 'This is very sad, Pastor, that this is happening in Ukraine. But no more money to Ukraine. I'm sorry. No more money to Ukraine.'

And I responded to this individual and I said 'you would not be saying that if you were here on the ground.'

When you're on the ground in Ukraine, and you're seeing the devastation, and you're seeing the tears, and you're seeing the soldiers who are on the ground, they don't want money from America — they want ammunition.

They need the tools to protect their homeland. They were invaded.

It's no different from the British invading America and the Tories and the loyalists — those citizens took up arms, they were not trained soldiers. They were just regular farmers and blacksmiths, and they took up arms to defend their territory.

That's exactly what Ukraine is doing.

When you see this, you can hear the passion in my heart. This may politically kill me, and I could care less. I don't care. It's not about what's popular, it's about what is right.

I can tell you the spirit of Ukraine is not broken. It is very much alive and is very much ready to defend its homeland. But more importantly than ammo, they want peace.

That's why I'm taking time to talk to anybody and everybody that will that want to talk to me so that this message that what God showed me on the ground of Ukraine has moved my heart, that I may move somebody else's heart and that the world would get behind Ukraine, just like how the world got behind South Africa during the time of Nelson Mandela.

My tears go out for those that are lost and are dying and are still being killed. And trust me when I tell you my voice is screaming from the mountaintop to whoever will listen.

We need to end this conflict in Ukraine immediately.

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