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Russian Orthodox Church leaders support invasion, religious persecution in Ukraine

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US-based Global Christian Relief organization has warned that leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church support Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, including the persecution of Ukrainian Christians, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

In a report it published in June, GCR attested that leaders in the Russian Orthodox Church support President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing brutal invasion of Ukraine, claiming it is a “special military operation” that is “divinely inspired.”

The GCR report goes on to highlight the occupation by Russian forces of the Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church of the Holy Trinity in Mariupol in May, and refers to the 500 religious buildings, theological institutions, and sacred sites that have been destroyed, damaged, or looted by Russian soldiers since the invasion began in February last year.

“Leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church have helped justify the war by giving it their blessing and condoning the violence through rhetoric cloaked in religious language,” the GCR report states. In particular, GCR adds: “These leaders also view the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as illegitimate, giving an additional pretext for permitting the invasion.”

Calling for action, Global Christian Relief said in its report: “Just as the International Criminal Court has issued Vladimir Putin an arrest warrant for war crimes over the forced deportation of thousands of Ukranian children, the international community must hold Russia’s military and church leaders accountable for their war on religion in the name of Christianity.”