Original article (in Serbian) was published on 05/04/2022
A Twitter user pointed out the news from the website Danas entitled “Patriarch Kirill: Ukraine must be destroyed like the Nazi Reich”. As it turned out, the Twitter user rightly doubted the veracity of the news first published on the website Danas, which was shared by several other websites (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). In his sermon, Russian Patriarch Kirill did not call for the destruction of Ukraine like the Nazi Reich, although he did encourage the Russian armed forces. He also expressed concern for people living in the war zone.
In the text published by Danas, there is a quote by Patriarch Kirill: “Once we have broken the backbone of fascism, we will do it again”. The patriarch allegedly said this during a sermon in the main temple of the Russian Armed Forces. In addition, Danas, while paraphrasing the words of the patriarch, added that he stated that Ukraine should be destroyed like the Nazi Reich.
Patriarch Kirill did not even mention the “Nazi Reich”, and this can be concluded based on the video of the entire liturgy, published on YouTube. The patriarch mentioned fascism only once, saying that they (the Russians) were the ones who “broke the backbone of fascism, which would surely have won in the world if it were not for Russia”. He did not mention that Russia would “do it again” or “destroy Ukraine like the Nazi Reich”, as it was published in the texts of the domestic media.
“We broke the backbone of fascism, which would surely have won in the world if it weren’t for Russia, if it weren’t for the feat of our people. May God help us even today, since we are peaceful and humble people, but at the same time, we are ready and will always be ready to protect our homeland. As I am telling you all this, I am worried for all the people who live today in all the cities where the fighting occurs. You are all people and nations of holy Russia, they are all our brothers and sisters. We will do everything we can to stop the bloodshed and stop the conflict with all the consequences”, said Patriarch Kirill in the main temple of the Russian Armed Forces.
The text published by Danas also contains a correct quote from this event, which can be seen in the screenshot of the text on the Russian website Lenta, attached by Danas. “We broke the backbone of fascism, which would undoubtedly have won if it were not for Russia, if it were not for the feat of our people”. However, in Lenta’s version of the news, apart from this quote, there is no word about the Nazi Reich or the destruction of Ukraine.
Both of these media refer to the report of the Russian state news agency RIA. However, the link to the RIA website provided by Lenta is not working, and Danas did not even include it in its text. The news about the speech of Patriarch Kirill after the liturgy in the main temple of the Russian Armed Forces cannot be found on the website of the Russian state news agency. Therefore, we contacted the RIA agency, but unfortunately, we did not receive an answer from this media house.
Apart from Danas, in the same or similar manipulative way, the words of Patriarch Kirill were also shared by websites Web Tribune, Mondo, Alo, Srbija danas, Glas javnosti and B92.