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Ukraine and the Russian invasion, Feb 2022 - tangentially related crap

Don't want to derail the main thread so I'll just come here to moan about the BBC once again doing that thing where all the TV and radio reporters get a memo to say that they've been saying the name 'Kyiv' wrong all this time and could they please switch to this committee-approved, even-less-accurate pronunciation?

They're calling it Keev ffs. My Ukrainian is pretty non-existent but I know a diphthong when I see one.
This is a pet pyiv of mine too.
 
Why I've given up Kitkat and Smarties all these years don't tell me I'm on the wrong side of the barricades comrades :mad:
 
A useful explainer on the split in the Orthodox church.

The events of 2014 and the annexation of Crimea, led the Ukrainian Church four years later to apply to the Patriarchate to cut itself off from Moscow and become autocephalous. The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate granted its request in October 2018. Ever since relations between Moscow and the Patriarchate of Constantinople have been frosty. The animosity was usually confined in words. But not always. A largely unseen power game has been ongoing between the two most powerful seats in Orthodoxy. Now the impact of the Ukraine invasion could transform the Church forever, with major consequences for the region.
It’s of course not strange that Kyiv sought to distance itself from Moscow. Old habits are hard to break, and within the Orthodox Church, unity between the various churches is a very highly regarded value. The reality however was, and is, that clerics can and do act as intelligence assets. Church networks can be activated to aid enemy activity, especially in times of war. During the initial schism between Moscow and Kyiv, a number of churches in Ukraine decided to stay loyal to Moscow. And there have apparently been cases in which Moscow loyalist priests have aided the invaders. Largely, however, the tide is turning against Moscow and Kirill’s rhetoric.

Now, even the Moscow Ukrainian Church is seeking to distance itself from them. The almost 13000 churches under its umbrella are already taking steps to do so. These moves also have far-reaching consequences within Russia and in the diaspora. 300 members of a group called Russian Priests for Peace signed a petition against Russia’s “murderous acts”. An Orthodox parish in Amsterdam, became the first to formally sever ties with the Moscow patriarchate. And now, a movement to exclude Moscow from the World Congress of Churches is underway. The former Archbishop of the Church Of England, Rowan Williams, who is himself a Russian speaker and expert on Orthodoxy, chimed in a few days ago: “The case for expelling is a strong one, and I have a suspicion that some other Orthodox Churches would take the same view. Many in the Orthodox world feel that Orthodoxy itself is compromised,” Lord Williams told Radio 4’s Sunday programme.

“The riot act has to be read. When a Church is actively supporting a war of aggression, failing to condemn nakedly obvious breaches in any kind of ethical conduct in wartime, then other Churches have the right to raise the question and challenge it — to say, unless you can say something effective about this, something recognisably Christian, we have to look again at your membership.”
While the Russian Church purports to act in the interest of protecting Orthodox Christians, the Russian army’s actions speak louder than words: Russian forces have killed orthodox people and destroyed sites that are holy to them, including the Svyatogorsk Lavra monastery, one of the three most sacred sites in Ukraine for Orthodox believers.

Meanwhile, the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Bartholomew I of Constantinople, had no qualms when describing Russia’s actions: “With broken hearts, we’re watching the tragedy that’s befallen the Ukrainian people, and we admire the staunch resistance against the impudent invader. With satisfaction, we also record the brave reaction of Russian citizens against the bloodshed. We are appealing for an immediate ceasefire on every front of the war.” He said on the 13th of March, using just the words that Kirill doesn’t want to hear.

Moscow’s actions and the moves other Churches are now forced to take are increasingly leaving the Russian Church an isolated entity, a pariah where it once held prominence. Its soft power, which was until very recently considerable and had been often deployed to the country’s advantage, is evaporating.
 
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I changed it because when I posted first I thought it was just the oligarchs, then I clicked the link. I'm not completely devoid of human feelings, you know.
I was't suggesting that you are devoid of human feelings but it was fairly obvious you hadn't clicked on the the link. Until i posted about the families.
 
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