Vladimir Putin has been accused of heresy by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams following comments by the Russian president linking Russia’s war effort to Christianity.

Putin made the remarks earlier this month in a statement marking Orthodox Christmas. He referred to Christ as coming into the world to save all people, before adding: “Russian warriors, always carry out this very mission as if by the command of the Lord, a mission of defending the Fatherland, defending our country and its people. People in Russia have always treated their warriors as those who, acting at God’s command, carry out this holy mission.”

The statement comes nearly four years after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Putin also reportedly told Russian troops that the invasion of Ukraine was a “holy mission” at “the Lord’s behest".

Lord Williams told The Independent that the statement undermines “a really fundamental aspect of religious belief, of Christian belief, which assumes that we have to defend God by violence".

Williams, who served as Archbishop for a decade from 2002, added: “I’d certainly say we’re talking about heresy."

"The idea that death in battle for your country equates to Christian martyrdom seems to be the most bizarre and unjustifiable interpretation you could take”, he said. “There is something really, really disturbing about the systematic, comprehensive rebranding of Christianity as Russian national ideology.”