Overview
- In a state-televised interview, Kirill said Russia stands as a spiritual alternative to Western civilization, which he accused of justifying sin and corroding youth morality.
- He called for a national consensus on core spiritual and moral values and warned that those who fall outside it are “traitors of the Motherland” with legal consequences.
- Kirill argued that ethics must anchor international relations and criticized Western media and philosophy for erasing the ideal of self‑sacrificial “podvig.”
- Kremlin footage of Putin’s Christmas worship was analyzed by media to locate the church on a GRU military site in the Moscow region and to identify officers present.
- RIA Novosti reported Christmas services for frontline units, including a dugout chapel used by the 128th motor‑rifle brigade of the “Sever” grouping.