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Patriarch Kirill is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and
has strongly backed the war in Ukraine, in which tens of
thousands of people have been killed and millions more driven
from their homes.
"Today our prayer is for our fatherland, that the Lord may
protect it from external and internal enemies, from all those
who do not associate their lives with Russia, who are ready to
make money in Russia, but have never been ready to serve the
fatherland," RIA quoted Kirill as saying in a sermon.
"We must inculcate in people, including through church
preaching, love for the fatherland, which is the greatest
virtue," he said in the sermon, delivered at the Cathedral of
the Archangel inside the Kremlin compound in central Moscow.
Kirill did not elaborate but his remarks appeared partly to
target Russians who have dodged the draft, sometimes moving
abroad to avoid being called up to serve in what Putin calls the
"special military operation" in Ukraine.
Putin has often used the Orthodox Church and its rich traditions
to help foster a sense of national pride and patriotism among
Russians. He attended an Easter service last week, holding a lit
candle and crossing himself several times.
Putin, strongly backed by Patriarch Kirill, casts Moscow's
invasion of Ukraine as a defensive pushback against what they
see as an aggressive and decadent West that is bent on
destroying Russia and its culture.
Ukraine says Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression
aimed at seizing land and crushing its independence.
The 14-month war has deepened divisions among the world's
Orthodox Christians and caused many Ukrainians to break with the
Moscow Patriarchate headed by Kirill and switch their allegiance
to the relatively new Kyiv Patriarchate.
(Reporting by Gareth Jones; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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