[Boogieman]

Then that puts lie to this notion:

“Thus, our patriotism is not chauvinism, not a call of the blood, not emotional passion for native land alien to any criticism, first of all, it is understanding the importance of the unique Christian mission which, I believe, our people live for,”

If their only argument with Ukraine is that they are aligning with the West, then it is chauvinism, nationalism, etc, and not a “Christian mission”.

[marshmallow]

As the article points out, Russia sees the West as spiritually moribund. The priest quoted in the article calls it "Babylon".

Russia sees the secular, humanist EU as ground zero for this spiritual malaise and Ukraine's flirtation with the EU as inviting disaster.