Abstruse call for more children
Russian scandal priest dies in shelling in Cherson
11/07/2022, 7:24 p.m
A week ago, the Russian priest Mikhail Wassiljew caused horror with an appeal: women should have more children so that it is less painful for them to send them to war. Now the cleric dies in the combat zone. His wife and five children are accepting condolences.
High-ranking Russian priest Mikhail Vasilyev has died in the war zone in Ukraine. The archpriest died on Sunday morning “in the area of the special military operation,” according to a statement from the Russian Orthodox Church. He was in Ukraine to perform his “pastoral duties,” it said. It was not until the end of October that an interview with the clergyman caused horror, in which he called on Russian women to have more children so that it would be easier for them to be sent to war.
The Russian propagandist Alexander Sladkov, who works as a war reporter for state television in Ukraine, wrote in his Telegram channel that his “friend” Vasilyev had died in the Cherson region in the south of the country as a result of rocket fire from the Ukrainian armed forces. Patriarch Cyril, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, offered his condolences to the “family, friends and spiritual children” of the deceased, whom he described as a “courageous, determined and self-sacrificing pastor of souls” known among the military as “the priest of the paratroopers” had been known.
As a priest, Wassiljew took part in missions in numerous war zones: in Kosovo, Bosnia, Abkhazia, the North Caucasus and Syria. He was awarded several Russian medals. Again and again the priest blessed the heavy weapons of the Russian armed forces, such as the nuclear-capable missile system “Iskander” or the ballistic missile system “Topol”.
“Mom, hold on”
Vasilyev only became known to the general public a few days ago. In an interview with the nationalist Orthodox TV channel Spas Vasilyev expressed his opinionthat it would be easier for women in Russia to send their sons to war if they gave birth to more children. In light of the mobilization in Russia, the moderator asked the minister for his opinion on mothers who fear for their sons’ lives and help them leave the country to avoid being drafted.
“The Lord commanded every woman to bear many children,” answered Vasilyev. “And if a woman who keeps this commandment – ‘be fruitful and multiply’ – abstains from the broadly artificial means of abortion, then of course she will have more than one child,” he continued. “So it won’t be so painful and scary for them to part with them.”
According to propagandist Sladkov, Vasilyev leaves behind a wife and five children. It is not known whether his children are fighting in Ukraine. “Mother, hold on,” Sladkov wrote to Vasilyev’s wife.