Metropolitan Epiphanius at Forum 2000: «Russia Uses Religion as a Weapon of Hybrid Aggression»
In his address, he emphasized that the Kremlin systematically exploits religion as a tool of hybrid warfare, disguising aggression as a “holy mission” and manipulating spiritual concepts for political gain.
«The war of Russia against Ukraine is not a religious conflict», Metropolitan Epiphanius said, «but Moscow deliberately seeks to portray it as a war for faith. The medieval myth of «Moscow as the Third Rome» has evolved into the ideology of the «Russian world», which justifies violence and domination».
He noted that the rhetoric of the Russian Church borrows from both Soviet propaganda and political Islamism, portraying the invasion as a «holy war». The head of the Moscow Patriarchate, Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev), has become an ideological accomplice of the Kremlin’s crimes, blessing aggression and masking it with religious language.
In contrast, Ukraine remains a model of genuine religious freedom. For nearly three decades, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has united all major faiths in common witness.
«Ukraine is a country where religion serves people, not power», the Primate stressed. «Unlike in Russia, our Church is free, not enslaved to a dictator».
Concluding his speech, Metropolitan Epiphanius underscored the essential difference between true Christianity and its distorted imitation under Kremlin influence: «We render unto God what is God’s, and unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. The Moscow Patriarchate, however, gives both to the Kremlin tyrant».
