The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, held a service at the main church of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with the participation of the defense minister and other senior officials and military personnel. During the service, the patriarch presented the military with a copy of an icon from occupied Luhansk.

According to the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate, the service was held as part of celebrations marking the 81st anniversary of the “Victory in the Great Patriotic War.”

Participants in the parade scheduled to take place on May 9 on Red Square in Moscow were also present at the church.

In his sermon, Kirill called for prayers “for the president, the armed forces, and the Russian land.”

“Let us pray for our homeland, for the armed forces, for our people, so that no enemy will ever again dare to enter our land, and so that the blood of our heroes will not be shed. May the Lord preserve the Russian land, our people, our church, our president, our armed forces, and all of you,” the Moscow patriarch said.

Notably, during the service, the primate of the Russian Church presented the 3rd Guards Luhansk-Sievierodonetsk Army of the Southern Military District with a copy of the Luhansk Icon of the Mother of God. According to sources, the original icon is kept in the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Luhansk. This Ukrainian city is currently occupied by Russia.

As LF previously reported, the Kremlin is attempting to justify the prolonged war against Ukraine by using longstanding false narratives claiming that “the Ukrainian government suppresses religious freedoms.” This was stated in a report by analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Earlier, we reported that the head of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, praised the efforts of Moscow Patriarch Kirill aimed at supporting participants in the “special military operation.”

According to LF, in November 2025 Patriarch Kirill Gundyayev stated that military valor is “inseparable” from spiritual valor and that participation in war may be viewed as a form of Christian service. This attempt to justify war through spiritual rhetoric triggered an immediate and sharp reaction within church circles.

According to Regina Elsner, a theologian and researcher of Eastern Christianity and ecumenism at the University of Münster, the Russian Orthodox Church has become one of the key institutions of mobilization and propaganda.

Earlier, we reported that Pope Leo XIV and Bartholomew I condemned attempts to use religion to justify violence.