Women must “multiply” to give birth to soldiers: Notorious Russian priest is dead BAG reports: 20,951 new corona cases ++ In hospital: 288 ++ 17 new deaths

Blessing nuclear missiles, spreading hatred of Ukrainians, and sending soldiers into battle with a splash of holy water: The hardline priests of the Russian Orthodox Church are a major mainstay of the Kremlin in justifying its invasion of Ukraine. Now, apparently, a prominent representative of the Russian clergy has fallen victim to the war.

According to a statement from his Moscow diocese, Mikhail Vasilyev died Sunday morning “while performing his priestly duties in the field of special military operations in Ukraine”. According to a statement from the 76th Airborne Division of the Russian Army, Vasilyev was killed by the impact of a Himar artillery rocket. Shrapnel hit the 51-year-old in the head and killed him, the unit wrote on Russia’s Facebook VKontakte. It is unclear exactly where Vasilyev was murdered.

Vasilyev also oversaw the nuclear forces

Wassiljew recently caused outrage with a performance on Russian television. In it, he called on women to “be fruitful and multiply”. It is clear, according to Wassiljew: “If a woman has more than one child, it does not hurt her so much if one is called up to war.” The scene was also circulated on Twitter with English subtitles:

According to his church, Vasilyev has previously traveled to war zones, including Kosovo, Bosnia, the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia, Kyrgyzstan, the North Caucasus and Syria. According to the independent newspaper The Moscow Times, Vasilyev advised the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church on cooperation issues with the Russian military. According to the Moscow Times, the spiritual care of the Russian nuclear forces was also one of Vasilyev’s tasks.

Moscow Patriarch is on sanctions lists

In this context, this photo caused a great international sensation in May. It shows three Russian Orthodox priests blessing an ICBM:

As the Reuters news agency later found, the photo, while authentic, was taken in May 2015. However, Russian priests have documented their support for the aggressive war against Ukraine on other occasions.

At the end of July, for example, a Russian Orthodox priest attacked his Ukrainian colleague during a service because he did not like his sermon. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow justified the war against Ukraine in February as a “fight against evil”. Soon after, the cleric rejected the role of mediator between Kiev and Moscow. Kyrill is on the sanctions lists of Canada and Great Britain. According to the independent Russian portal “Mediazona”, at least three Russian priests were killed in the war in Ukraine with Vasilyev.

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(t-online, mk)