When the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church consecrated the first stone of what is planned to be a towering green-and-gold cathedral outside Moscow last fall, Vladimir Putin and his defense minister were front and center for the ceremony. The Russian president even pledged some of his own money to fund the cathedral’s centerpiece icon.
Wall Street Journal: Ukraine gets a church of its own – and Putin glowers
Patriarch of Russia Kirill (R) meets Russian President Vladimir Putin before a flowers laying ceremony at the monument in homage to Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin on the Red square near the Kremlin marking a National Unity Day in Moscow on Nov. 4, 2018.
