In April, Russia claimed that Ukraine had attacked a civilian bus in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine, killing nine people. Following the incident, Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, offered his condolences. Kirill observed, “I am convinced that the cynical act committed by the Kyiv regime should be qualified as a war crime that has neither justifications nor statutes of limitations.”
It’s unclear what actually happened. But considering that Ukraine has strict rules against targeting civilians, it’s highly unlikely that this was a deliberate Ukrainian attack. Assuming Russia did not entirely invent the attack, something it has done multiple times, Ukraine should provide any available details about the circumstances. Still, Kirill is the ultimate hypocrite. As he condemns Ukraine, he anoints far worse, calculated Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians.
Veiling himself in Christian sanctity, and sporting the occasional $30,000 watch, Kirill describes this war as a “fight against metaphysical enemies.” This summer, he even published a book on why Russian President Vladimir Putin has a spiritual right to kill whomever he chooses. This faux-holy narrative obviously appeals to the Kremlin. For Ukrainians, however, this war is manifestly physical. And its physical toll is measured by the innocent blood Russia deliberately spills in ever greater quantities.
Kirill happily ignores this reality. Addressing Putin on Wednesday, Kirill stated his conviction that “now, as in ancient times, the well-being and power of Russia is based not only on economic and political stability, but also on spiritual and moral foundations.”
What spiritual and moral foundations does Kirill believe underpin Russia’s recent actions?
Take Russia’s attack on a Ukrainian aid distribution center last week. Russia dropped multiple glide bombs on the center, killing at least 55 people in the village of Komyshuvakha and leaving more than two dozen others under the rubble. While Russia claims it struck a Ukrainian military post, there are no military posts in the village. Russia also carried out missile strikes on a hospice for terminally ill patients and a hospital in Kharkiv — hospital attacks are a favored Russian military tactic.
The weapons used in these strikes have predesignated targets and are guided by military satellite telemetry. The notion that Russian forces did not know what they were hitting is beyond farcical. Russia’s use of such heavy ordnance against civilian areas is itself telling. These are the tactics of terrorists seeking to scare civilians into abandoning their homes. And as I’ve noted, these attacks form part of a broader pattern of recent atrocities.
Kirill is unconcerned. As rescuers sought to dig victims out of the rubble in Komyshuvakha and move sick and terminally ill patients to safety, Kirill was glorifying Putin at a cultural center in Moscow.
But Kirill’s moral and theological malaise gets worse. The patriarch’s hypocrisy is further evident in his claim, like Putin’s, that Ukraine is part of the “Russian world.” Indeed, he says, Ukraine is intrinsic to the very idea of Russia. What Russian Orthodox teachings does Kirill believe justify annihilating the very people he claims are part of the “Russian world”?
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The vast majority of Russian Orthodox worshippers are decent adherents of a noble faith. That faith provides a foundation for community support, family values, and positive mindfulness. The problem is that Kirill and his senior leadership have prostituted themselves and their faith in the Kremlin’s evil service. And by sanctifying what is happening in Ukraine, they make themselves culpable for the grotesque manner in which Putin is prosecuting his war.
The world should take closer notice.