Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has again defended Russian intervention in Ukraine, denying that it constituted an invasion.
“Russia has never attacked anyone — it’s amazing that such a great and powerful country has only ever defended its borders,” the Patriarch told a congregation in the Cathedral of the Archangel, in the Kremlin.
“May God grant that our country remains like this till the end of the century: strong, powerful, and loved by God. . . May the Lord protect our Russian land from internecine strife and invasion by foreigners, and strengthen the Orthodox faith, the only spiritual force that can truly hold our people together.”
Preaching on Tuesday, the Patriarch said that Russia’s past rulers had “faithfully served the Orthodox Church and their fatherland”, and should be turned to in prayer “for the Russian state, so that our sacred borders remain impregnable”.
PATRIARCH KIRILL of Moscow has again defended Russian intervention in Ukraine, denying that it constituted an invasion. “Russia has never attacked anyone.”
https://t.co/twFtoQ9RCE from @churchtimes— Gene Bryant (@GeneBryant2) May 6, 2022