Putin worships occult, he's not Christian — pastor Burns

American preacher, spiritual diplomat, and evangelical minister Mark Burns stated this on Espreso TV.

"First of all, many of us believe, based on the evidence we have, that Vladimir Putin worships the occult and that he is not a Christian. He speaks like a Christian, or at least tries to create the impression that he adheres to Christian values, but in reality is under the strong influence of a shaman. He is largely guided by sorcery, and beside him is a shaman connected with witchcraft practices who is very, very close to him. This reminds me of the former Russian tsar and Rasputin, who was extremely close to the royal family. Similarly, Vladimir Putin has his own 'Rasputin' - this shaman, this mysterious person who is very close to him. And we don't believe this would be pleasing to the Lord Jesus. Those of us who believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, those who call themselves Christians or believers. Vladimir Putin is not like that. We must pray even more against this demonic activity. We must call upon the name of Jesus against this demonic force. And all Orthodox Christians in Europe and in Ukraine must continue to call upon the name of God, to call upon the name of Yeshua," Burns said.

The pastor emphasized that the Russian leadership must be punished for war crimes against Ukraine. According to him, this position is held by many members of the U.S. Congress.

"And what if he continues to wage war? I've said before and will continue to repeat the signal coming from many members of the U.S. Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, who are not war advocates but strive to do what's right, because right is right and wrong is wrong. Russia under Vladimir Putin's leadership attacked the sovereign state of Ukraine, killing and committing war crimes against Ukraine's civilian population. Soldiers who surrendered still received a bullet to the back of the head. We have numerous video evidence of how Ukrainian military personnel lay down their weapons, raise the white flag, but are executed anyway. This is a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, the rules of warfare and combat operations. These are war crimes captured on camera," he added.