The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) allowed Russian servicemen who are in the combat zone not to fast during the upcoming Great Lent. This was stated by the chairman of the information commission of the Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Alexander Volkov, he is quoted by TASS. Many of the military are now on the territory of Ukraine due to the Russian invasion of the country on February 24, 2022.
Volkov advised Orthodox Russians to consider how exactly to observe the fast, based on their health, but for the military, according to him, there can be no question of fasting.
“Each person must come up with his own conscience. <...> If a person is in military service, especially in a combat zone, then there can be no talk of any such bodily post, in principle.”
If believers have serious illnesses, or if it is a nursing mother, then the measure of fasting should be fairly light in terms of food, Volkov emphasizes.
Orthodox Christians on Monday, February 20, began the "cheese week" (week) or Maslenitsa. This is the last preparatory week before Lent. In addition to other restrictions, meat should be excluded from food during the fasting period.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, justifies the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and calls on the clergy and faithful Russians to pray for Putin's "health". Pope Francis told how, during a telephone conversation, Patriarch Kirill justified the war. In December, the patriarch demanded the adoption of a law on deferment from mobilization for members of the clergy. In April 2022, almost 200 priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate ( the UOC had already separated from it ) demanded that Patriarch Kirill be brought before a church tribunal.