On November 22, Pope Francis gave an interview to the American magazine America, where he spoke about the war in Ukraine. The interview was published on November 28 and caused a stir in Russia due to the fact that the pontiff called the Chechens and Buryats the “most brutal” participants in the war.
“When I talk about Ukraine, I talk about cruelty, because I have a lot of information about the inhumane actions of the invading troops. As a rule, the most violent ones are probably those who are from Russia, but not from the Russian tradition, such as Chechens, Buryats and so on. But of course, the Russian state is invading. This is absolutely clear,” he said.
These words were spoken in response to the journalist’s request to explain his position on this war. America's Gerard O'Connell explained why the question arose: "Many in the United States have been confused by your seeming reluctance to directly criticize Russia for its aggression against Ukraine, preferring instead to speak more generally about the need to end the war, stop the mercenary activity and arms trade, not about Russian attacks.”
Thus, by mentioning the Chechens and Buryats, the pontiff may have wanted to say that Russia is not only Russians and that Russians should not be identified with the state, but he chose an extremely unfortunate example. “According to the pope, it turns out that Muslims and Buddhists are particularly cruel,” summed up Russian journalist and head of the Free Buryatia Foundation Alexandra Garmazhapova.
Francis's words aroused the indignation of all forces opposing each other. They were condemned by official Moscow, and “foreign agents,” and the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and the son of the ex-president of Ichkeria, Anzor Maskhadov.
“This is no longer Russophobia, this is a perversion, I don’t even know what level. Remember, in the nineties and early 2000s we were told exactly the opposite, that it was the Russians, the Slavs, who were torturing the peoples of the Caucasus, and now we are told that it was the peoples of the Caucasus who were torturing the Russians. They must be perverts of the truth!” - said the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
Russian Ambassador to the Vatican Alexander Avdeev expressed “outrage at such insinuations” and noted that “nothing can shake the cohesion and unity of the multinational Russian people.”
The head of Buryatia, Alexei Tsydenov, said that the Russian army, which numbers hundreds of nationalities, fights differently - “it takes care of and protects the civilian population, and also treats prisoners of war with humanity and mercy.”
Alexandra Garmazhapova noted that all Buryats are outraged by the Pope’s statement, and recalled that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine named official suspects in the atrocities in Bucha. “They turned out to be Pskov paratroopers, and not Buryats, as previously stated.”
The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, in his Telegram channel called Pope Francis “a victim of propaganda and persistence of foreign media.” “Yes, we are jealous of the defense of our Motherland, religion, people. We call on the enemy to surrender and our citizens to defend themselves. Is this cruelty? — Kadyrov wrote.
The Council of the United Chechen Diaspora in Europe, led by the leader of the United Force movement Suleiman Dzhambulatov, issued a statement in which they called the pontiff’s words ill-conceived, “unbecoming for the Pope and not in keeping with his rank.”
“The Chechen people are the first victims of Russianism in modern history. During Russia's two aggressive attacks on the Chechen state, over 300 thousand Chechen civilians were killed, which constituted a third of our people. More than 40 thousand of these victims are children. Our cities and villages were destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth. To this day, thousands of our fellow tribesmen, including women, languish in Russian prisons and are subjected to torture. Our state is occupied by Russia, which has established an absolute dictatorship there. All Chechens who have the opportunity to freely express their opinions sympathize and empathize with the Ukrainian people. Chechen battalions are fighting together with Ukrainians against Russian invaders... This is not the first statement by the head of the Vatican, designed to mitigate Russia’s guilt and relieve it of responsibility for all the atrocities it commits in Ukraine. To our great regret, the Russophile nature of such statements contributes to the continuation of the genocide of the Ukrainian people, the daily murder of its civilians.

Ukraine today protects the whole world from the growing appetites of aggressive Russia. In this situation, it would be reasonable, if not to help in her just struggle against Russian barbarity, then at least not to obstruct her,” the United Diaspora Council said in a statement.
Anzor Maskhadov, the son of the murdered ex-president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov, recorded a video message to the Pope, in which he recalled the repressions against the Chechen people and human rights violations in Russia: “Our cities and villages were destroyed by Russian occupiers, a third of the population of Ichkeria was forced to leave our country because of the Putin regime.”
Maskhadov also recalled that natives of Chechnya and supporters of Ichkeria are fighting on the side of Ukraine: “They are fighting for our freedom, for a free Ichkeria, for Ukraine and for all the countries of Europe... They are fighting against Russian cruelty in Ukraine. We don’t want anyone to help the Russians demonize our people, the Chechens.”
The famous Russian businessman of Ingush origin, Mikail Gutseriev, also spoke out in defense of the Chechens. In his opinion, “contrasting the Chechens with a certain “Russian tradition” looks like an attempt to divide the Russian people along ethnic lines and incite religious hatred.” In his column in Moskovsky Komsomolets, Gutseriev shared his personal experience of communicating with the Chechens, among whom, according to him, he spent most of his life, and cited statements by Russian classics who spoke highly of the character and customs of the Chechen people.
“Over the years of their single history, in which there was everything (but the Russians and Chechens will somehow figure this out on their own), the Russian and Chechen traditions have become so intertwined, enriching each other, that the words about peoples existing outside the Russian tradition, spoken by the pontiff, look at best, thoughtlessly, at worst, they can be perceived as an attempt to divide peoples and national chauvinism,” Gutseriev concluded.

The well-known love of the Chechens for weapons and military glory, Gutseriev noted, is explained “not by the aggressiveness of their character, but by the difficult living conditions of the people, who for a century waged an unequal war against the humiliation of serfdom and the inevitable loss of their self-identification. The result of this colonization was the fatally disastrous loss of fertile plains by the Chechens and deportation to the mountains... Yes, by history itself the Chechens were doomed to constant resistance, the need for survival, a constant readiness, absorbed with their mother’s milk and the first instructions of their father, to fight with a dagger and a bullet, to survive, to save family, loved ones, protect your home, honor, your religion,” he recalled
businessman.

December 15, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova
She stated that Russia had received an official statement from the Vatican with an apology for Pope Francis’ statements towards the Chechens and Buryats, this incident was settled.
She claims that “through diplomatic channels, an appeal has been received from the Vatican, which contains an official statement on behalf of the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin, in connection with the mentioned statement of the Pontiff.
“This appeal, in particular, says the following: “The Vatican Secretariat of State apologizes to the Russian side. The Holy See has deep respect for all the peoples of Russia, their dignity, faith and culture, as well as for other countries and peoples of the world.”

“The ability to admit one’s mistakes is becoming less and less common in modern international communication. This situation shows that behind the Vatican’s calls for dialogue is the ability to conduct this dialogue and listen to interlocutors. This approach, I can tell you now, evokes sincere respect,” Zakharova said.

According to her, the Russian side believes that “this incident has been resolved” and looks forward to continuing “constructive interaction with the Vatican.”
However, the Vatican itself did not comment
message from a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.