The Russian embassy called on the US government to “stop politicizing the issue of religious freedom, using it as a lever to influence the internal and external policies of other states.”
The representation of the Russian State also urged the government of President Joe Biden to “pay better attention to its own problems and shortcomings,” according to the Russian state agency TASS.
According to an embassy statement, represented by Anatoli Antonov, the United States baselessly accuses Russia of attempts to divide the Russian Orthodox Church, commenting on the US State Department’s Annual Report on International Religious Freedom.
“This time, in addition to routine insinuations, the United States, seeking to reverse the cause-and-effect relationship of the Ukrainian conflict, baselessly accuses Russia of attempting to create division in the Orthodox Church,” the embassy said in a statement, according to the Russian agency.
“At the same time, Washington ignores the fact that it is the Kiev regime that intensifies the violation of the rights of believers day by day,” the statement added.
The embassy urged the US government to “stop politicizing the issue of religious freedom, using it as a lever to influence the domestic and foreign policies of other states” and to “pay better attention to its own problems and shortcomings.”
“Russia has developed over the centuries as a multi-denominational and multinational state. It has been molding a respectful attitude towards faith and traditions and has stood up to them,” the Russian diplomats said.
Russia accused of “kidnapping children”
By contrast, over the weekend, Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, called for the arrest of Vladimir Putin on alleged war crimes, accusing him and other top Russian officials of kidnapping children.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March on charges related to the illegal deportation of some 20,000 Ukrainian children to Russia or Kremlin-controlled areas of Ukraine.
Speaking publicly about the charges for the first time, Zelenska in an interview with Good Morning Britain accused Russian leaders of kidnapping thousands of children in an effort to “re-educate them to become Russians.”
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