Russian Orthodox Church justifies war in Ukraine as "treatment"

The Moscow Times reported the information.

“Any war is always a tragedy, an incredible tragedy. But when a doctor picks up a knife and starts cutting a person's peritoneum, it can be perceived as murder, as bloodshed. However, with one caveat—we know it's a doctor. And such an action is not called murder, torture, but treatment, even though it is painful, even though it bleeds,” the ROC representative said.

According to him, after the “doctor” removes “something that carries death” from the abdominal cavity, he must “carefully sew the patient up.”

The outlet notes that previously, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, has repeatedly expressed support for the war against Ukraine and justified it in his sermons. In particular, during a videoconference with Pope Francis, he defended the need for war, arguing that Russia was driven to it by NATO's plans for Ukraine. In September 2022, Kirill said in his sermon that death in war “washes away all sins” and told the military that they “should have no doubts about the correctness of the chosen path.”

• Recently, Vladimir Gundyaev, known as Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, remarked on the eleventh year of Russia's war against Ukraine that Russians do not enslave anyone but are simply following their historical path.