“Putin thinks he’s the emperor of our times,” said Patriarch Theodoros II, who leads the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. The Patriarch speaks Russian, has met “many times” with the Russian president, and lived for ten years in Ukraine.

“Power can get you drunk,” the Patriarch said. “And the great authoritarian power blinds the eyes and you forget that you are human. It is not possible to cross yourself, pray to God, and at the same time kill children and people in general.”