The head of Russia's Orthodox Church justified the Kremlin's bombing campaign in Syria, calling it a "defensive war" in an interview released Thursday as the country marked Orthodox Christmas.
Patriarch Kirill said Moscow's military strikes were necessary to protect Russia from "terrorism."
"As long as the war is carried out in self-defence, then it is just," Kirill told state-run Rossiya 1 television channel.
"All that is happening is a self-defensive, responsive action.
In that sense, we can safely talk about it is a just struggle."
The Kremlin launched a bombing campaign in Syria in late September at the request of its long-standing ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad saying it was targeting jihadists who posed a threat to Russia.
But the campaign has drawn condemnation from the West - which accuses Moscow of bombing moderate groups to prop up Assad - and allegations that it has caused mass civilian casualties.