patrick.net

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named "chief exorcist" by the head of the country's Orthodox Church as the Kremlin seeks to redefine the goals of its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin, when he invaded the neighboring country on February 24, used the term "denazification," saying that was the goal of his so-called "special military operation," but now his security council is shifting to the phrase "desatanization."

Aleksey Pavlov, assistant secretary of the security council of the Russian Federation, is now calling for the "desatanization" of Ukraine, saying that there were "hundreds of sects" in the country where citizens have abandoned Orthodox values.

"I believe that, with the continuation of the special military operation, it becomes more and more urgent to carry out the desatanization of Ukraine," Pavlov said, according to state-run Russian news agency Tass.