Bryansk, Russia, March 21, 2022
A statement that has been circulating on social media calling for Russian soldiers to “wipe the Ukrainian nation from the face of the earth,” attributed to the Bryansk Diocese’s Department of Relations with the Military and Law Enforcement, is a fake and has nothing to do with the diocese.
“DEAR CITIZENS! WE ASK YOU TO BE CAREFUL AND CHECK THE RELIABILITY OF ALL INFORMATION,” the diocese calls.
The image being circulated shows an icon of the Martyr Evgeny Rodionov, who was killed in Chechnya in 1996 for refusing to remove his baptismal cross, with a message on the back reading:
You are a Russian soldier.
Your duty is to protect the fatherland from Ukrainian nationalists.
Your task is to wipe the Ukrainian nation from the face of the earth.
Your enemy is an ideology, inflicting sinful damage upon the human soul.
The fake message is allegedly signed by Fr. Mikhail Ageshin of the Bryansk Diocese’s Department of Relations with the Military and Law Enforcement.
“This flyer, supposedly addressed to Russian soldiers, contains unreliable and compromising information, designed to incite national hatred between the fraternal peoples of Russian and Ukraine,” the diocesan statement reads.
The statement has nothing to do with the diocese, which is obvious from the incorrect images used:
We declare that the Military Department of the Bryansk Diocese has nothing to do with the preparation of this false flyer. We also draw attention to the fact that the logo, letterhead, and seal on which the flyer is made do not correspond to the logo, letterhead, and seal of the Military Department of the Bryansk Diocese and, thus, are fake.
“In addition, there is no personal signature of the head of the department in the leaflet. The distributors of such information contribute to the destabilization of the international situation and the schism among the Orthodox Churches,” the diocese concludes.
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