On September 16, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow declared that Russians live in “peaceful times” and again used the image of Dimitry Donsky for Russian propaganda.
“By the grace of God, we live in peaceful times. But what does the fighting capacity of our soldiers, our army, our navy mean? First of all, I am not afraid to say, it is a state of mind. You can have excellent weapons and knowledge of how to conduct military operations, but if you do not have the strength of the spirit, then you will not win,” said the head of the Russian Orthodox Church after he “blessed” a stone in honor of the church of the venerable Prince Dmitriy Donsky at the base of the 40th Separate Guards Krasnodar-Harbin Marine Brigade (unit 10103) in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Kirill actively supports the aggressive foreign policy pursued by the Kremlin and the militarization of Russian society. He says that Russia is supposedly besieged by enemies who seek to destroy it, as it was during the times of Nevsky and Donsky.
“…and probably, many military commanders asked themselves the question: if Alexander Nevsky, if Dmitriy Donsky were able to defeat a force many times greater than theirs, are we now weaker?” He compares Russia with its historical enemies and hints that Russia’s enemies have not gone anywhere for several hundred years. This thesis is the basis of Russian propaganda, which is used to justify the country’s aggressive foreign policy. Although in fact the Russian Federation has nuclear weapons in its arsenal. Therefore, hardly anyone can seriously consider the possibility of a direct attack on Russia.
Also, in this typical speech, Kirill praises Russia’s heroic past but does not mention its tragic current aggression against Ukraine and the sin of murder. In addition, he lies, talking about the “peaceful time” in which Russia lives, because every day several boxes with the remains of Russian occupiers return to the Russian Federation. In addition, Russia is conducting mobilization, and some Russians have fled abroad, which also indicates that the Russian Federation is not living in “peaceful” times.
“Remembering the heroic past, we must realize ourselves as the heirs of these great names, the successors of their work – the work of protecting our Motherland. And how important it is to understand this here, on our eastern border!” said Kirill.
He glorifies the Russian armed forces and their readiness for defense, but it is Russia that is the aggressor that launched an unprovoked war against Ukraine. This is known to the whole world, except Patriarch Kirill and Vladimir Putin. Kirill does not condemn this aggression and occupation of Ukrainian lands, thereby legitimizing violence and crimes, using the Church and faith in God for dirty and sinful purposes.
His talk about “threats” and “protection of the eastern borders” is typical Russian propaganda, since Russia itself is the source of threat, and no threats to Russia have come from the West, as well as from Ukraine, which only protects its borders, without encroaching on foreign lands.
The distorted interpretation of history by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church comes through the prism of modern Russian propaganda. In particular, Kirill traces a simplified interpretation of Donsky’s role in the fight against the horde. He uses history to support the modern aggressive policy of the Russian Federation. While Donsky fought against the insurgent Mamai, on what side to the intra-Horde skirmishes are analogies with Russia’s war against Ukraine, an independent state.
Kirill blesses and approves of military aggression, instead of restraining offensive war and preaching peace. On the contrary, Kirill’s speeches incite militaristic sentiments and glorification of war. This contradicts the ethical norms of Christianity and generally accepted human norms. It should be noted that those individual priests who opposed the war in Russia were immediately stripped of their position and became “outcasts” in Russian society. Some were even convicted to an actual prison term.
