Controversial interview with Pope Francis angers Russia: ‘It’s no longer Russophobia, it’s a perversion’

In an interview with a Jesuit magazine America, Pope Francis said of the war in Ukraine, Chechen and Buryat soldiers behaved very cruelly. “In general, people who live in Russia, but are not of Russian heritage, such as Chechens and Buryats, are very cruel., the Pope ruled. Thus he mentioned For acts of torture in eastern Ukraine During the conflict.

Francis I was questioned by the American media about his reluctance to directly condemn Russia. He justified his comments by saying that he had received a lot of information from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the brutality of the troops, but that “it was the Russian state that invaded.”

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Invalid report in Russia

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the pope’s comments an example of Russophobia. “It’s no longer Russophobia, it’s perversion on a scale I can’t name”, she was taken to the Telegram channel. “We are a family of Buryats, Chechens and other representatives of our multinational and multi-religious country.”

Russia has many republics with different ethnic and religious groups. Chechens are an ethnic group originating from Chechnya in the North Caucasus (southwestern Russia) and are predominantly Muslim. Their leader, dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, widely supported the war in Ukraine and reportedly even sent his own sons to fight. The Buryats are a Mongolian ethnic group originating from Buryatia in eastern Siberia, and are Buddhists and shamans by tradition.

For her part, Alexandra Karmazhabova, founder of the anti-war organization, which was created in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, called the Pope’s comments “unforgivable and racist,” The Guardian reported. “I am deeply disappointed to read these racist and inexcusable statements”

“Russia starts and leads a war Vladimir Putin, he obviously does not belong to a minority race. The Pope was supposed to reprimand him personally, but he decided to spare the Russian president. Don’t forget that the Russian Orthodox Church was one of the biggest supporters of the warAlexandra Karmazhabova, a lawyer for the Buriat community, notes the Russian Orthodox Church leader’s public support for the war.