Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, strongly criticized Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople for his 2019 recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is independent of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).

“Our flock is in both Russia and Ukraine, and we are ardently praying for the restoration of peace, so that the Lord may overthrow the designs of the evil external power feeding hatred,” Patriarch Kirill said on May 17. “The political goal of creating all these autocephalies, all these schisms is to weaken the influence of the … one Orthodox Church of Rus’, Ukraine and Belarus, with the use of ideological clichés to enkindle enmity and to create new myths that would alienate one people from another.”

Patriarch Kirill added, “The exception of prohibited methods of military actions, protection of the civil population, observance of the international humanitarian law, respect for captives and the injured—this is what I as Patriarch of All Russia call upon the parties of the conflict and ask them to do all that is possible to avoid victims among civilians.”