Vladimir Putin: a miracle defender of Christianity or the most evil man? | Tim Costello

The Russian president's Orthodox faith is central to his worldview but he has used it to justify invasion and violence in God's name

With Russia invading Ukraine, its president, Vladimir Putin, has been painted by many in the western media as the most evil man in the world.

Commentators are asserting that this premeditated act is evil. I do not disagree. To see a war in Europe nearly 80 years after the end of the second world war is unthinkable. What other words describe such violence and the man who singlehandedly has authorised this assault? Now that Putin has twice raised the chilling proposition of nuclear weapons - referring to Russia as one of the most powerful nuclear states" and later ordering that nuclear forces be placed on special alert" - the global images of a trip wire to nuclear armageddon are disturbing our equanimity. What other word but evil captures this? In contemplating this I think there has been a missing dimension in naming Putin's messianic and religious pretensions. And as a minister of the gospel, this perspective has caused me deep heartache.