Vladimir Putin and the patriarch of Russia’s Orthodox Church sent a rather unfriendly message to the West during their festive celebrations earlier today.
The church, which celebrates Christmas on January 7 in line with the Julian calendar, has been a vocal supporter of the Russian president’s brutal invasion of Ukraine ever since it began.
So it’s perhaps no surprise that Patriarch Krill used the special occasion to explain why the West supposedly hates Russia.
He claimed it was not down to either its nuclear capabilities or its strength, but because of Moscow’s “alternative path”.
“They hate us because we are offering a different, alternative path of civilised development,” he said, while the West is in a state of moral collapse.
According to Reuters, Krill also used his ritual speech in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral to claim: “Physically they cannot really smother us, though they try through different types of slander and the creation of blocs of some sort intended to weaken Russia.
“Nothing will work because God is with us.”
This is not the first time the Patriarch has gone above and beyond to praise Putin.
When the Kremlin leader was sworn in once again after supposedly winning last year’s presidential election – written off by many as rigged – the patriarch expressed a wish for Putin to rule until the end of the century.
He said: “May God bless you so that the end of the century means the end of your time in power. You have everything you need to serve the country long and successfully.”
Putin used his own Christmas message to return the favour and praised the church for “strengthening the institution of the family, the upbringing of young people and the affirmation of moral ideas.”
Putin has also sided repeatedly with the Orthodox church by condemning the west for pushing for gay and transgender rights.
According to the Kremlin, Patriarch Krill has also blessed icons and crosses engraved with Putin’s initials before they were sent to servicemen serving the war.
Ukraine previously celebrated Christmas on January 7 with Russia, but set up its own independent church in 2018 and decided to follow Europe’s tradition of celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 2023 instead.
That decision came after Kyiv rejected Putin’s offer of a 36-hour ceasefire to Ukraine in January 2023 in honour of Orthodox Christmas.