Christians Against War

Unconscious provocation. The pro-Kremlin Life.ru confused shamans.

The pro-Kremlin publication Life.ru, in its article about Russian shamans and their support for the "special military operation", published information about the Yakut shaman Emchit Seduyev, to whom "prominent political figures from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation turn".

"Given that the Yakut Pyotr Ammosov has joined the VIII convocation of the State Duma, Seduyev is doing his job well," the publication notes.

However, the photo shows not the pro-Kremlin Seduyev, but the shaman Alexander Gabyshev, who marched to Moscow in 2019 to expel Vladimir Putin and was placed in a psychiatric hospital because of this.

#Russia #pagans

[Channel: Христиане против войны!]
[Link: https://t.me/shaltnotkill]

Russia wants to recognize the anti-Ukrainian movement "AllatRa" as extremist

On June 9, the Supreme Court of Russia will consider a lawsuit by the Prosecutor General's Office to recognize the international public movement "AllatRa" as extremist.

The movement was created in the early 2010s in Kyiv. The doctrine is compiled from various historical, philosophical, mythological, religious and esoteric ideas, spiritual practices, the author's interpretation of the idea of the animal and spiritual principle in a person and the reincarnation of the soul. At the same time, conspiracy theories play a notable role in the ideology of the movement, in particular, the idea of the need to fight against global Zionism, Stalinism and the messianic idea that the Russian nation is called to save humanity and unite the peoples of the world around itself. The idea of the fateful role of the "Russian world" for humanity is combined by the ideologists of the "AllatRa" movement with a negative perception of power as a source of repression, the injustice of laws, and the logical conditionality of mass protests.

In 2023, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation declared the activities of the International Public Movement "ALLATRA", based in Ukraine, as undesirable in Russia, since its activists "receive instructions from Ukrainian curators about the need to establish contacts with representatives of opposition forces and conduct unified coordinated actions to discredit the policies of federal and regional authorities", including the armed forces of the Russian Federation.

In the same year, the Security Service of Ukraine stated about the neutralization of the "international criminal organization AllatRa". "Under the guise of 'missionary work', members of the religious sect justified Russia's armed aggression and publicly promoted the Kremlin's idea of creating a 'union of Slavic peoples' under Moscow's leadership," the SBU said.

#Russia #cults

Source channel: Christians Against War!

After the discontent of the Z-community, the Kremlin has returned the crosses to its emblem.

The Kremlin has returned the image of Orthodox crosses to its emblem. The updated version appeared both on the Telegram channel and on the website of the presidential administration.

Earlier, director Nikita Mikhalkov called the images of the Russian coat of arms with double-headed eagles in crowns with rhombuses "chicken tabaka". "This is not a minor detail, this is a sign of power, this is belonging to a certain religion," he said.

And the head of the legal department of the Russian Orthodox Church, abbess Ksenia Chernega, called "the depiction of the domes of Orthodox churches on posters, announcements, advertisements, banknotes or, say, on the logos of the subjects of the Russian Federation without crosses" unacceptable.

Military correspondent Yuri Kotenok called the cross-fall on the Kremlin's website "a targeted setup of the President".

#Russia #Orthodox #ROC

Source channel: Christians against the war!

Z-archbishop Savva condemned the Stalin bas-relief: "This is a substitution of Christianity"

One of the most notorious pro-government hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Savva (Tutunov), unexpectedly spoke out with harsh criticism of the installation of a bas-relief of Joseph Stalin in Taganka.

Savva stated that Stalin monuments are unacceptable not only because of the repressions against the people and the Church led by him since the 1920s, but also because of the spiritual nature of the bas-relief itself. According to the bishop, the composition of the monument is "Soviet sacredness", an open attempt to replace Christian symbols.

"The composition of the bas-relief is an obvious imitation of the deisis," Savva noted. "In the center is the figure of Stalin, on the sides are figures turned to him with a gesture reminiscent of a prayer. This is the place of Christ and the saints."

The bishop called such a thing "a surrogate of faith", criticizing the revival of the sacralized image of Soviet power as an ideological substitute for Orthodoxy.

📷: gazeta.ru

#russia #roc

Source channel: Christians against the war!

"War, Faith and Law 3894": What Sister Vassa Said After Her Trip to Kyiv

Nun Vassa (Larina) visited Kyiv and recorded an interview with Viktor Yelensky — the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience. The occasion was the law #3894, which prohibits the activities of religious organizations associated with the aggressor state in Ukraine. Yelensky explained: it is not about banning the UOC, but about terminating its canonical ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, which, according to him, openly justifies and blesses the war.

Sister Vassa shared her personal impressions of the trip: air raid alerts, soldiers' funerals, destroyed and rebuilt churches, but also a living church service, faith and resistance. She admitted that she saw in Ukraine "the wounded but resurrected Body of Christ" — a society that suffers, but does not lose hope and dignity.

In the interview, Viktor Yelensky emphasized that it was the war started by Russia that became a real threat to religious freedom in Ukraine. He spoke about dozens of killed priests, hundreds of destroyed churches and the aggression that the ideologists of the "holy war" justify.

The translation of the interview into the Ukrainian language is available on the website of the Sophia Brotherhood.

#ukraine #uoc #pcu

Source channel: Christians Against War!

"Paganism instead of Christ": religious scholar Alexander Soldatov — on the church, war, and the philosophers of the Kremlin

In a conversation with "Novaya Gazeta" columnist Alexander Soldatov, the religious and quasi-religious foundations of the ideology of Russian aggression are discussed. From the "Soviet symphony" — the union of the Bolshevik party and the Moscow Patriarchate — to modern forms of "theology of patriotism".

Why did the Kremlin need the philosophers Ivan Ilyin and Nikolai Berdyaev? What role does Alexander Dugin play in military rhetoric? And why is neo-paganism gaining popularity in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces?

"In the war, prayers are increasingly replaced by the names of Veles and Svarog," says Soldatov. According to him, pagan images have become part of the new religious nature of the war, in which Christ is displaced by images of power, blood, and a mythical past.

#россия

Source channel: Christians against the war!

The head of the RPSC: Participation in the war is the most sacred feat

The head of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, Metropolitan Korniliy (Titov), in his welcoming speech to the participants of the round table "The Patriotic Service of the Old Believers in the History of Russia", spoke on the topic of patriotism:

"Our reverent attitude towards the diversity of what is called the Motherland, its veneration, only because we were born here, is patriotism. It manifests itself on the battlefield, when a warrior defends the Motherland from encroachments on its existence. Undoubtedly, this is the most sacred feat, the accomplishment of which is the highest manifestation of patriotism. The history of Russia, the history of how it constantly defended itself, is irrefutable evidence of patriotism as a natural manifestation of the Russian national consciousness, living in our people at the mental level," he said.

The hierarch remained silent about the history of Russia's aggressive wars.

#Russia #OldBelievers

Source channel: Christians against the war!

Russia opposes the Vatican as a venue for negotiations with Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke out against the Vatican being a venue for negotiations on the war with Ukraine.

"Many people fantasize about where and when [a meeting between representatives of Russia and Ukraine] will take place. We don't have any ideas right now, but I'll be honest, (...) so that they don't waste their mental abilities on working out options that are not very realistic. Imagine the Vatican as a venue for negotiations. It's a bit inelegant when Orthodox countries will be discussing issues related to the elimination of the root causes [of the conflict] on a Catholic platform," Lavrov said at a high-level conference under the auspices of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry "Historical Southern Russian Lands. National Identity and Self-Determination of Peoples".

#Russia #Vatican #Orthodox #Catholics

Source channel: Christians Against War!

A Baptist House of Prayer in the Sumy region was damaged by a Russian air strike

On May 21, as a result of a Russian air strike with guided air bombs, the House of Prayer of the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptist Churches in the village of Krasnopillia, Sumy region, was damaged. The blast wave blew out all the windows and doors, and the roof was damaged.

Before the start of active hostilities, the church regularly gathered - about 30 people attended the services, and new people came. Over the years of the full-scale war, 5 believers were baptized here, and two more are preparing for baptism. The last service was held on March 16.

All church members have been evacuated, except for one brother who remains in the village and is preparing for baptism. According to various estimates, there are currently between 50 and 100 people in Krasnopillia.

On May 21, the minister Alexey Miroshnichenko and his assistant came to the site to board up the broken windows and doors. At that time, shelling continued nearby.

#ukraine #baptists

Source channel: Christians against the war!

Myroslav Marynovych in Rome: "Unmasking evil is the first step in overcoming it"

On May 14–15, an international conference "Theology of Hope for and from Ukraine" was held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, organized jointly with the Ukrainian Catholic University and the University of Notre Dame. The event was opened by Myroslav Marynovych — a former political prisoner, human rights defender, co-founder of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, and advisor to the rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University.

In his speech, Marynovych emphasized that the war in Ukraine is not just a conflict, but an existential confrontation in which Putin's regime seeks to destroy the Ukrainian state, identity, and church. He reminded: "Unmasking evil is the first step in overcoming it. As long as we do not call evil by its name, we are powerless before it."

According to Marynovych, Ukraine acts not only as a victim, but also as a source of hope. "The world has long not believed in us," he said, "but today Ukraine speaks the language of values. And it is the language of values that can replace the language of national egoism, leading to new wars."

He also called for distinguishing the true peacekeeping mission from the "appeasement of the aggressor," emphasizing that "peace without truth and justice is not God's peace."

Concluding his speech, Marynovych noted: "Evil seems omnipotent, but behind its growth is the multiplication of grace. And if evil is so eager to destroy Ukraine, perhaps it is here that the Lord is preparing a new foundation for the world — a new security system."

#ukraine #italy #catholics

Source channel: Christians against the war!

Two icons - two worlds: how Ukraine and Belarus addressed the Pope differently

At the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV on May 18, the official delegations of Ukraine and Belarus presented the Pontiff with icons of the Mother of God with the Infant. But as Katolik.life notes, these images represent two different worlds.

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented an icon painted on a fragment of an artillery box from Izyum - a city that experienced occupation and mass killings. This image symbolizes Ukrainian children who have suffered from the war and been deported to Russia. The icon was created by Ukrainian iconographers Oleksandr Klymenko and Sofia Atlantova, the artists behind the project Icons on Ammo Boxes.

The Belarusian delegation presented a richly decorated copy of the Zhirovichi Icon, made at the St. Elisabeth Convent in Minsk, which publicly supports the Russian army and collects funds for the "special military operation".

Paradoxically, the Zhirovichi Icon itself is credited with helping to defeat the Muscovite state in the Battle of Polotsk in 1660. Then the troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland inflicted a defeat on the Tsar's army.

As the publication emphasizes, the icons have become not just religious gifts, but visual symbols of two opposing worldviews - the world suffering from war, and the world supporting aggression.

#ukraine #belarus #vatican

Source channel: Christians Against War!

Zelenskyy presented the Pope with an icon on a fragment of a box "from Izium"

During a meeting at the Vatican, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented to Pope Francis a special icon - "The Mother of God with the Child", painted on a wooden lid from an artillery box brought from near Izium.

"For many peoples, the image of a mother with a child is a symbol of life that needs to be protected. This icon is about our children: those who have suffered from the war, those whom Russia has forcibly deported, and those who are waiting at home with hope," Zelenskyy noted. He emphasized the importance of prayer and international support to bring home all - both children and Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The authorship of the icon belongs to Ukrainian artists Oleksandr Klimenko and Sonya Atlantova - creators of the "icons on boxes" series. These images, painted on fragments of ammunition, have become a symbol of faith, survival and memory in the conditions of war. More details about the project are on their website.

#ukraine #vatican

Source channel: Christians against the war!

A believer and political scientist Evgeny Bestuzhev had his suspended sentence replaced with a real one

The St. Petersburg City Court changed the sentence of the believer Evgeny Bestuzhev, replacing the previously imposed five years and three months suspended sentence in the case of "fakes" about the Russian army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) with a real prison term. The court also declared him wanted.

Evgeny Bestuzhev is an Orthodox Christian, a parishioner of the community of the Martyr Maria Skobtsova (SPATS, St. Petersburg), a political scientist and publicist. In 2015, he publicly spoke out against the hybrid war in Ukraine, and after 2022 he began to actively publish anti-war materials on social networks. For this, in September 2022, a criminal case was opened against him, and later he was arrested and spent a year in a pre-trial detention center.

In November 2024, Bestuzhev received a suspended sentence and was released from custody in the courtroom. However, soon the prosecutor's office managed to have the verdict reviewed. At the time of the appeal, he was already in Lithuania, where he had left in December 2024.

"I left not because I was afraid," he said, "but prison is useless time. I want to be useful, continue to work on reforms and support political prisoners."

#russia #orthodox

Source channel: Christians against the war!

Has Patriarch Kirill admitted that the Moscow Patriarchate has no place in Ukraine?

By stating that since Orthodoxy in Estonia is not "from China or Paris", but "Russian Orthodoxy", Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev) has called into question the legitimacy of the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. In fact, he has repeated what supporters of Ukrainian autocephaly have been asserting for decades.

After all, according to his own logic, Orthodoxy in Ukraine is not from Moscow or St. Petersburg. It is the original Byzantine or Constantinople Orthodoxy.

Stated

#Russia #Orthodox #ROC

Source channel: Christians Against War!

Patriarch Kirill has given Estonia reasons to adopt a law against the Russian Orthodox Church

On May 20, at a reception at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev) criticized attempts to restrict, for security reasons, the ties of the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church with Moscow. But perhaps his words have only added to the reasons for this.

"And where does Orthodoxy in Estonia come from? Not from China and not from Paris. This is Russian Orthodoxy, and generation after generation, Orthodox people have been raised in this system of values, coming precisely to the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church. /.../ By adopting amendments to the Law on Churches and Parishes, which outlaw the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Estonian authorities hope to force Orthodox believers to transfer to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. And although the law has not been approved by President Alar Karis due to the fact that it contradicts the Estonian Constitution and has been returned for revision, the threat of its adoption with minor amendments remains."

#Estonia #Orthodox #ROC

[Channel: Christians Against War!]
[Link: https://t.me/shaltnotkill]

Shulman found Satanism in the Kremlin's statements about the war in Ukraine

Russian political scientist Ekaterina Shulman in a new episode of the "Status" program responded to statements by the Russian authorities that their goal in the war against Ukraine is to "eliminate the root causes of the conflict".

Shulman noted that in Christian thinking, the First Cause is God the Creator, and therefore the desire to eliminate the First Cause is Satanism:

"If, understanding what this venerable term means, you hear the phrase 'elimination of the root causes' again, you will understand what is really meant. ... Have you been told about Satanism and what it consists of? We try not to touch on such matters on the air particularly. ... The First Cause of motion is also the First Cause of being. Essentially, the conflict is the very change of which Thomas Aquinas speaks. Therefore, the elimination of the root cause of the conflict is the elimination of the Creator and the elimination of the consequences of creation - that is, of being itself. Should we strive for this?"

#Russia

Source channel: Christians Against War!

Putin: Clergy of almost all our confessions are on the front line

On May 21, during a meeting in the Kursk region, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that "the clergy of practically all our traditional confessions are literally on the front line".

"They are on the line of direct contact - and, I repeat, of all confessions - providing assistance to people, and in the rear, away from the fighting. And this assistance is in the highest demand, because the main guarantee of any success, especially in difficult times and in the conditions of hostilities, is the inner cohesion of a person and the readiness for such actions that the Motherland expects from him.

And here, of course, motivation plays a paramount role. Of course, one cannot do without equipment and ammunition, but internal motivation is still the top priority. And here the role and importance of spiritual mentors is difficult to overestimate."

At the same time, Putin acknowledged that "there are also losses among the clergy".

#Russia

Source channel: Christians Against War!

A Belarusian journalist was blocked by the YouTube channel of the Orthodox TV channel "Soyuz"

Belarusian journalist Fyodor Pavlyuchenko discovered that after a critical comment in the chat of a YouTube broadcast of the Belteleradiocompany, his account was blocked not only on the BT channel, but also immediately on dozens of others - including ONT, STV, "Belarus 24", BelTA, and... the Orthodox TV channel "Soyuz".

The journalist found out that the channel administrators are centrally exchanging lists of banned users. In the YouTube settings, you can copy the list of blocked users and manually transfer it to another channel. This is how Pavlyuchenko ended up in a common "ban base", which synchronously includes both Belarusian state media and Russian resources, including religious ones.

#belarus #russia #orthodox

Source channel: Christians Against War!

The Pope confirmed the Vatican's readiness to host the next round of negotiations

On May 20, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held a telephone conversation with Pope Leo XIV about the next steps to be taken to build a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

The meeting took place after a telephone conversation on May 19 with US President Donald Trump and European leaders, during which the Italian Prime Minister was offered to confirm the Vatican's readiness to host the negotiations.

"Having found confirmation from the Holy Father of the readiness to hold the next negotiations of the parties in the Vatican, the Prime Minister expressed deep gratitude for the openness of Pope Leo XIV and for his unwavering commitment to peace," the Italian government reported.

#Vatican #Catholics

Source channel: Christians against the war!

Evangelical pastor in Belarus recognized as a political prisoner

On May 19, 2025, Belarusian human rights defenders recognized as a political prisoner Pastor Oleg Loyko from the village of Nebylov in the Khoiniki district. He is accused of transmitting information about the movement of Russian military equipment on the territory of Belarus.

The 48-year-old pastor has served for many years in the local Evangelical Christian church and headed a rehabilitation program for addicts as part of the Christian mission "Return". State media have repeatedly presented him as an example of spiritual and social service.

In January 2024, Oleg Loyko was already arrested for 10 days on charges of distributing "extremist materials".

#belarus #evangelicals

Source channel: Christians Against War!