Ukrainian bishop says Putin is the 'Antichrist of our current time': 'Against God’s law'
An Orthodox bishop in Ukraine has likened Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Antichrist as tensions between the two countries continue nearly a week after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
On BBC’s Global News Podcast Sunday, religion and ethics producer Harry Farley spoke with Ukrainian Bishop Yevstratiy Zoria, a spokesperson for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, about Putin’s belief that Russia and Ukraine had a “shared spiritual space.”
“What he’s referring to is the arrival of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the region in the ninth century,” Farley said. “He along with many other Russians see Russia’s history dating back to that empire” that existed at the time.
“Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church developed, became this huge power … within the Orthodox Church. But in 2019, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church split off from Russia and was recognized as independent,” Farley added. “Religion is hugely important for Putin’s identity, for his psyche, he immerses himself in icy water to mark the festival of Epiphany, he wears his baptismal cross.”
Farley surmised that Putin “sees himself as a kind of messianic figure, a savior, to reunite Eastern Orthodox churches under Moscow.”
After noting that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is “fiercely independent” and “rejects Moscow’s authority,” Farley shared a soundbite from his interview with Zoria, who vehemently pushed back on the characterization of Putin as a messianic figure.
Zoria described the Russian President as “really not messianic, but really [the] Antichrist of our current time.”
Story by Ryan Foley, Reporter, The Christian Post. Cover image of Russian President Vladimir Putin (Shutterstock).
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