Russian Patriarch claims 'weirdos' are making pagans of Russian soldiers

The head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill has pronounced that “weirdos” are turning Russian soldiers in combat onto paganism.

Made just before the third anniversary of the Ukraine-Russian conflict, the claim echoes fears that the Russian Orthodox Church has been expressing for many years.

Paganism is essentially a pre-Christian Slavic spirituality that persists in some pockets of Russia today and according to Kirill is gaining ground, particularly among soldiers and athletes.

Back in 2018, the Orthodox Church waged war against paganism by attaching specially trained priests to individual military units, according to The Moscow Times.

At the time, Patriarch Kirill said, “Defenders of the fatherland, especially those who participate in dangerous military operations, need spiritual support.”

A close ally of Vladimir Putin and an ardent supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kirill went on to add that “nothing good will come” of the surge in paganism.

“Man cannot turn into an animal. That’s what always distinguished an Orthodox warrior from a pagan one,” Patriarch Kirill said in The Moscow Times.

Now, almost seven years later, Kirill is sounding the alarm once more, telling his clergymen. “I would like to draw the attention of priests who visit the combat zone to the emergence of neo-pagan sentiments among some military personnel," Reuters reports.

"Who would have thought that in the 21st century 'weirdos' would appear on the territory of Holy Rus who would revive paganism?” he added.

Kirill went on to say that any clergyman spotting such “weirdos” should “show special initiative in order to completely prevent the influence of neo-paganism on the consciousness of military personnel."

Kirill ended his address by saying, “The forces opposing Russia have engineered the conflict in Ukraine, intending to use it to weaken our country and the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

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