Evidence Grows of Russian Orthodox Clergy’s Aiding Ukraine Rebels
In The New York Times, Andrew Higgins reports, “The Russian Orthodox Church, like the Kremlin, has strenuously denied any role in stirring up or aiding separatist turmoil in Ukraine.” However, he writes that “evidence has begun to accumulate of close ties between the church, or at least individual Orthodox priests, and the pro-Russian cause.” Orthodox priests have been said to bless rebel fighters and let them store ammunition on church grounds. “We cannot ignore the fact that the conflict in the Ukraine has unambiguous religious overtones,” said Patriarch Kirill I, the head of the Russian church in Moscow.