The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the Vatican apologized after Pope Francis described Chechens and Buryats—two ethnic minority groups in Russia—as the “cruelest” troops fighting in Ukraine.
Riga-based independent news website Meduza, published in both English and Russian, reported that claims that the Vatican formally apologized to the Kremlin came directly from Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
Zakharova said that Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs received an appeal from the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin, “in connection with the aforementioned statement of the pontiff,” Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS reported.
According to Zakharova, the appeal read: “The State Secretariat of the Vatican apologizes to the Russian side. The Holy See has deep respect for all the peoples of Russia, their dignity, faith and culture, as well as for other countries and peoples of the world.”
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The foreign ministry spokesperson concluded by saying that “this incident has been settled” and that Russia now expects to continue “constructive interaction with the Vatican.”
In November, Pope Francis gave an interview with America, a monthly Christian magazine published by the Jesuits of the U.S. with headquarters in midtown Manhattan. While talking about the war in Ukraine, the pope said that Chechens and Buryats were among the “cruelest” troops fighting in Ukraine.
“Generally, the cruelest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryats, and so on,” said the 85-year-old pope.
Chechen military forces have been deployed to fight alongside ethnic Russian soldiers in Ukraine since February 26, as per Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s announcement.
But not all Chechens, the majority of whom practice Islam, supported Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Several hundred Chechens fighters have reportedly joined the conflict to fight alongside Ukrainians, likely with the long-term goal of achieving independence for Chechnya.
Buryats, an ethnic group originating from Buryatia, near the Russia-Mongolia border, have reportedly been disproportionally targeted by Putin’s mobilization efforts, as denounced by activists and local officials.
Pope Francis’ comment on Chechens and Buryats fighting in Ukraine were harshly criticized by Russian authorities, with Kadyrov accusing the pontiff of falling “victim of propaganda.”
“Everyone is deeply religious” in Chechen units, Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel. “And each fighter knows that in times of war, one should not forget about honor, dignity and even respect for the enemy.”
“It’s shameful that a world-famous religious personality does not know about the attitude of Muslims toward the enemy,” he added.
Earlier, the Kremlin’s ambassador to the Holy See, Alexander Avdeev, expressed “indignation” at the “insinuation” made by the pope.
The Vatican has not yet officially confirmed it has apologized to Russia for the pope’s comment, but it told Newsweek that “at the moment, it can only confirm there’s been a diplomatic contact in this direction.”
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