The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has formally charged 14 high-ranking metropolitans and archbishops of the Russian Orthodox Church for their involvement in the illegal seizure of Ukrainian churches in Russian-occupied territories, the agency announced on April 22.
The ceremony took place at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and was led by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a staunch supporter of both Putin and the war in Ukraine.
"Hungary also blocked sanctions against 27 individuals and organizations, including Patriarch Kirill, arguing that targeting religious leaders undermines peace efforts," a Hungarian government spokesperson said.
Moscow Patriarch Kirill accused the West of "hating" Russia because it represents "an alternative path of civilizational development." He made the comments during the celebration of the Christmas Mass on Jan. 7.
When Tucker Carlson, a popular American right-wing conservative, released an interview with lawyer Robert Amsterdam titled “Ukrainian churches are being burned and priests beaten,” it quickly gained traction with the so-called MAGA movement seeking the return of Donald Trump as president. The April interview was reposted as a YouTube short
Patriarch Kirill, the head of the church, is a staunch backer of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been accused of using his subordinates in Ukraine and other countries to spread Russian propaganda.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), presented a "revolutionary" order on March 27: “The Present and Future of the Russian World.” The order claims: “From a spiritual and moral point of view, a special military operation (Russia’s term for its war against Ukraine)
Russia's war and occupation of large swaths of Ukraine have led to hundreds of churches being damaged or destroyed, dozens of priests killed or kidnapped, and entire religious groups that don't conform to Moscow's brand of Orthodoxy being banned. With entire Ukrainian cities being leveled by Russian artillery fire, religious
Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council has proposed banning Russian-affiliated religious groups, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Dec. 1. The most significant of the groups is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, an affiliate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The National Security and Defense
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