(Bloomberg) -- The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill issued a rare rebuke to state officials over their nuclear threats to the West.
Kirill, a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine, said “fearmongering about possible apocalyptic scenarios” and speculation about nuclear weapons use was “not spiritually helpful” during remarks at a Thursday congress in Moscow, according to Interfax. The country’s top cleric did not say who was responsible for these threats.
However, several Russian officials stepped up nuclear sabre rattling after Washington allowed Ukraine to conduct strikes with US-made long-range missiles within Russia’s internationally recognized borders. Putin also signed a new military doctrine broadening the scope for using atomic weapons, which his spokesman Dmitry Peskov called “a signal to those stirring the conflict in Ukraine.”
Christians “shouldn’t sit back and silently watch what is happening; one should confront evil and uphold high moral ideals,” Kirill said at the Moscow event. The Russian Orthodox Patriarch added that he hoped Russia and Ukraine “will re-unite one day.”
Despite Putin’s increasingly bellicose statements, intelligence officials still assess US President Joe Biden’s decision on long-range weapons has not increased the risk of a nuclear attack, which remains unlikely, Reuters reported Wednesday.
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