Controversy Surrounds Display of Ukraine War-era Holy Trinity Painting in Moscow Cathedral

A 600-year-old Orthodox icon, known as The Holy Trinity, has been transferred from Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery to the Russian Orthodox Church, sparking controversy. The head of the Church, Patriarch Kirill, has publicly supported Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and suggested that President Putin's reign over Russia had been mandated by God. The transfer of the icon could be interpreted as a reward for the Church's loyalty to Putin's ideology, which is clerical, anti-Western, and imperialistic. The Orthodox Church often paints the war in Ukraine as a "holy war" to make Russians believe that God is on their side and to make them forget that it was their country that invaded Ukraine.