President Putin visits the Orthodox chapel in the Kremlin Palace [사진제공 : 연합뉴스]
Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting the invasion of Ukraine on the occasion of the Orthodox Christmas of the 7th local time.
Instead of attending public celebrations, Putin delivered the Christmas message after attending a midnight service that began on Christmas Eve in a church inside the Kremlin Palace, the presidential residence, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported. .
“I am very pleased with the extremely constructive contribution of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations to unite society, preserve our historical memory, educate young people and strengthen the institution of the family,” he said in the message.
“Church organizations prioritize the support of our fighters in special military operations in Ukraine,” he said.
Christmas is usually on December 25, but some countries that believe in the Orthodox Church, such as Russia and Ukraine, celebrate Christmas at a later date on January 7 each year.
Prior to this, on the 6th, President Putin ordered a 36-hour ceasefire to celebrate Christmas, but Ukraine rejected it, saying it was just a ploy by Moscow to buy time and regroup.
Indeed, even after President Putin declared a ceasefire, both sides continued to bomb.
It analyzes that President Putin reiterates his reliance on the Orthodox Church as the foundation for Russian social stability and national unity in a harsh wartime.
The Wall Street Journal specifically noted that it was the first Orthodox Christmas since President Putin launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine as a “crusade” against the “corrupt West.”
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, insisted in an interview on state television that believers should see the war as a holy struggle against the West to preserve the “Russian world” and keep the Slavic lands under spiritual and political guide of Moscow.
In a video broadcast on TV, President Putin was also seen making the sign of the cross several times during the ceremony.
In Ukraine, believers who celebrate Orthodox Christmas also gather in churches.
However, many Ukrainian Orthodox Christians are outraged by the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for the invasion of Ukraine and have switched to December 25, which is celebrated by most other Christians instead of January 7.
There are 260 million Orthodox believers in the world, 100 million Russians and about 30 million Ukrainians.
The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is divided into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate and the Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was recognized by the Constantinople Patriarchate in 2019, but is not accepted by the Moscow Archdiocese.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, especially after the Russian invasion, does not include Russian Patriarch Kirill in the list of fraternal leaders in public worship and uses its holy oil without receiving it from Moscow.
Russian Patriarch Kirill accused the Ukrainian government of suppressing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has long ties to Moscow, during a service on 6.
Patriarch Epiphanius, head of the Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, officiated a service to a large crowd of worshipers at the Kyiu Cave Monastery, one of the most important holy places of the Orthodox Church.
The Associated Press reported that the Christmas service was conducted in Ukrainian for the first time in 31 years since Ukraine’s independence, and among the believers singing Christmas carols were Ukrainian military units in military uniforms.
Patriarch Epiphanius said, “As a nation, we have tried to live in peace with the understanding of all our neighbors, but the enemy, meanly, has broken the peace and invaded our land.”, he criticized.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Christmas message released late on the 6th that the Ukrainian army “is fighting to defeat the beast, not to fall prey.”
