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. This is not the first time the Patriarch has gone above and beyond to praise Putin.

Russia's invasion, which began in February 2022, has also been a source of religious controversy within the Eastern Orthodox Church and has driven a split among believers in both Russia and Ukraine. V