Pope recommends “white flag” in Ukraine war
Published: Sunday, Mar 10th 2024, 16:00
Updated At: Sunday, Mar 10th 2024, 16:00
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Pope Francis has sparked massive opposition with a misleading appeal for peace negotiations in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The statements by the head of the Catholic Church were understood in Ukraine and by many of its supporters as a one-sided appeal to Kiev alone - by some even as a call for capitulation. In an interview published by Swiss television at the weekend, the 87-year-old also used the term "white flag" in reference to the difficulties faced by the Ukrainian army - in times of war, this has been the sign of surrender, i.e. giving up without a fight against enemy troops, for centuries.
"When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate," said Francis in the interview, which was conducted at the beginning of February but has only now been made public. Without naming any of the parties to the conflict, Russia or Ukraine, he added: "Don't be ashamed to negotiate before things get worse." Nevertheless, this was often taken as a reference to Ukraine in particular. Elsewhere in the interview, the head of more than 1.4 billion Catholics said: "Negotiations are never a surrender."
Meanwhile, the fighting continued with unchanged ferocity. Ukraine repelled a Russian drone attack on Sunday night. According to the Ukrainian air force, 35 of 39 Russian Shahed combat drones were intercepted. According to the local prosecutor's office, eleven people were injured when three Russian missiles hit the city of Mirnograd in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Ukraine has been defending itself against a large-scale Russian invasion for more than two years. In recent weeks, Russian troops have continued to advance in eastern Ukraine, partly because Western supplies for Ukraine are faltering.
Misleading statements by the Pope and Ukrainian anger
On Saturday evening, papal spokesman Matteo Bruni contradicted reports that the pontiff had called on Ukraine to surrender. Francis himself did not address the controversy in his Sunday prayer in St. Peter's Square. He made a general call to pray for peace in "tormented Ukraine" and in the Holy Land. He added: "Put an end to the hostilities that are causing immeasurable suffering among the civilian population." From previous statements by the Argentinian-born Ukrainian, however, Ukrainians already have the feeling that Francis has more sympathy for Russia than for them.
His answer to the question of whether it sometimes takes courage to raise the white flag was met with incomprehension - the wording came from the interviewer. The Pope replied: "That's a question of perspective. But I think that those who recognize the situation, who think of the people, who have the courage of the white flag to negotiate, are stronger." The interview was recorded for a cultural program that deals with the color white in general - including, for example, why the Pope wears white. It is due to be broadcast on March 20.
"It seems strange that the Pope does not call for the defense of Ukraine, does not condemn Russia as an aggressor that kills tens of thousands of people," wrote former Ukrainian MP and Deputy Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko on the X network (formerly Twitter). "Ukraine is exhausted, but it stands and will stand! Believe me, no one is thinking of giving up," said the head of the Greek Catholic Church, Svyatoslav. This so-called Uniate Church is strong in western Ukraine. Its liturgy is Orthodox, but it recognizes the Pope as its head.
"Our flag is yellow and blue. This is the flag with which we live, die and endure. We will never raise any other flag," wrote Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on X. He thanked the Pope for his prayers during the two years of war and invited him to visit Ukraine.
Criticism from Poland and Germany
In Poland, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski criticized the call. "How about encouraging (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to have the courage to withdraw his army from Ukraine? Then peace would return immediately, without the need for negotiations," wrote Sikorski on X. Poland is one of Ukraine's most committed political and military supporters.
In Germany, Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt contradicted the Pope. "Nobody wants peace more than Ukraine," the Green politician told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Putin could end war and suffering immediately - not Ukraine. "Anyone who demands that Ukraine simply surrender is giving the aggressor what he has illegally taken and thereby accepting the extinction of Ukraine." FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann called on the Pope to condemn the "verbal murderous incitement" of Orthodox Moscow Patriarch Kirill against the Ukrainians. "As a Catholic, I am ashamed that he refrains from doing so."
Ukraine fends off major drone attack
According to the Ukrainian military, it repelled a major Russian attack with combat drones on Sunday night. According to the air force, 35 of 39 drones approaching were intercepted. "I thank everyone who achieved this result," wrote Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk on his Telegram channel.
According to the military, an enemy drone struck an industrial building in the Odessa region in the south. No one was injured. A power line was damaged in the Mykolaiv region. The Iranian-made Shahed drones had been launched from the Russian coast of the Sea of Azov and from the annexed Crimean peninsula. In addition, according to this military information, Russia fired four converted S-300 anti-aircraft missiles at ground targets in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.
In a night-time attack by Ukraine, a drone crashed into a fuel depot in the Russian border region of Kursk and burst into flames, as the local governor Roman Starovoit announced on Telegram. According to the authorities, two drones were shot down over the Novgorod region in north-western Russia.
Patriot air defense destroyed for the first time in Ukraine?
US military experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have picked up on Russian reports that launch platforms of the US Patriot air defense system may have been destroyed for the first time in Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense in Moscow published a video on Saturday that allegedly shows a Russian Iskander missile hitting two Ukrainian launch platforms of the S-300 system. The location was said to be the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, which is close to the front line.
Shortly afterwards, Russian military bloggers reported that two Patriot M901 launchers had indeed been hit. The ISW wrote that this loss could not be confirmed. Germany and the USA have provided Ukraine with Patriot. It is the most powerful air defense system in use there. In recent weeks, there had been suspicions that Ukraine was deploying the systems close to the front because a conspicuous number of Russian fighter jets had been shot down.
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