Russian Orthodox priest who called for more children to be born for war with Ukraine dies

For example, in the programme "Priest's Answer" on the TV channel "Spas TV", owned by the Moscow Patriarchate, where he was a guest, the presenter asked if he could understand a woman who took her only son to the Canary Islands to save him from mobilisation.

In response, Vasilyev said:

"I understand perfectly well that every lady by nature God in most cases has allowed to give birth to many children. If the lady, fulfilling this commandment of God "be fruitful and multiply", refused, respectively, artificial means of termination of pregnancy in the widest spectrum, obviously, she will have a child not one, in most cases. And thus she will not be so painful and scared, respectively, to part with him, even if only for a while.

The Russian Orthodox Church's website reportedthat Vasilyev was killed on the morning of November 6 in a "special military operation", as the Russians call it, in Ukraine while carrying out pastoral duties.

Vasilyev was conducting pastoral ministry in the airborne troops.

The Russian Orthodox Church reports that, as a priest, Vasilyev participated in missions to "hot spots" and in "peacekeeping operations" in Kosovo, Bosnia, Abkhazia, Kyrgyzstan, the North Caucasus and Syria.

Vasilyev is not the first Russian priest to die during the war; for example, the BBC Russian Service earlierreported the death of Father Anatoly Grigoriyev, 45, who was rector of the Epiphany Church in one of the villages of Tatarstan.

At the end of September, it became known about the death of archpriest Efimiy Kozlovtsev who was 'a marching priest of the combined Don Cossack brigade named after Archistratigus Michael.

To recall, the world media also recently reported that priests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Norway were engaged in espionage - spying on military bases