Russian protestants will not condemn war

“We treat our Ukrainian brothers with deep understanding, we also experience pain”, said Sergey Ryakhovsky, who is the head of the organisation. “We continue to pray for them, but there will be no reaction, no answer from our side; we are not going to add fuel to the fire.”

Ukrainian Protestants called on Ryakhovsky to “repent” for his speech in the State Duma on March 29. According to the appeal, he “unambiguously spoke out in support of the war, motivating it with Christian love.” This writes by the Russian state-owned news agency Tass.

Ryakhovsky explained that he really spoke in the State Duma, but the main message of his speech was that “hate is conquered by love,” and not that he allegedly “called for killing with love” as representatives of the Union of Protestant Churches of Ukraine interpreted.

Politics

According to Ryakhovsky, the Protestant churches in Russia do not interfere with politics, “unlike our brothers in Ukraine”.

Ryakhovsky further said that the statement by the Ukrainian Protestant organisations follows in line with the “Russophobia” that is “actively spreading around the world”. “Now we are toxic for them. They don’t look at us as Christians, fellow believers, but look at us as Russians”, Ryakhovsky said.