The head of the Orthodox Church has rejected claims from the Kremlin that he is the antichrist.
Patriarch Bartholomew, the leader of more than 300 million Christians, has criticised a number of allegations from Moscow, including claims that he is spreading “fake news” and working with British spies.
Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency has raised concerns about Bartholomew, who is based in Istanbul, over his alleged links with British intelligence services, accusing him of sowing discord within the Orthodox Church.
According to The Times, the SVR wrote: “This devil incarnate is obsessed with the idea of driving Russian Orthodoxy out of the territory of the Baltic countries.
“The Constantinopolitan Antichrist… is mired in the mortal sin of schism and is literally tearing apart the living Body of the Church.”
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2021, the UK government has since imposed sanctions on Russian spies over “malicious activity”.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate, which is headed by Bartholomew, has not explicitly detailed the specific allegations made by the SVR.
However, in a statement, it said this was the latest in a series of “imaginative scenarios, fake news, insults and fabricated information” produced by Kremlin propaganda.
President Vladimir Putin has increasingly framed Russia as being engaged in a battle against Ukrainian and Western “satanism”.
Following celebrations of Christmas by Russian Orthodox Christians on 7th January, Putin told children during a church service that the war in neighbouring Ukraine was a “holy mission”.
