The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has been hit with sanctions by British authorities for “his support and endorsement of Putin’s war,” the U.K. Foreign Office announced Thursday. Patriarch Kirill leads millions of Orthodox believers in Russia, but rather than condemning the war in Ukraine, he has staunchly defended it, and famously left Pope Francis flummoxed in March by reading off a list of justifications for the war that had apparently been prepared by the Kremlin. Four Russian colonels from a unit accused of brutally murdering civilians in the city of Bucha were also included in the new sanctions list, along with the “Salvation Committee for Peace and Order,” a group working with Russian forces to bolster the occupation of Kherson. “Putin’s allies continue to choose to turn a blind eye to alleged war crimes and support his bloody offensive,” the Foreign Office said.
