This is the EU of “[…] revanchists and revisionists of World War II history as well as collaborators and advocates of the Third Reich, glorifying the bloody executioners who destroyed millions of European civilians,” Zakharova stressed.

Archbishop Markell is “a patriot, a Moldovan citizen who stands not only for the preservation of the Orthodox faith, but also for Moldovan statehood,” explains political scientist and historian Boris Shapovalov.

Markell, “being one of the brightest representatives of the Moldovan Orthodox Church of the Russian Patriarchate, was deliberately subjected to these repressions," adds Shapovalov.

"Ukraine CANNOT SUSTAIN ITSELF. Alongside the Americans, we are the ones keeping it afloat, not only its army but also the functioning of its ENTIRE state administration," Viktor Orban said.

“By interfering with religious and societal relations, they’re sidelining a minority group that represents hope for unity beyond geopolitical divides. Religious leaders like Archbishop Markell are crucial for building bridges across borders, shaking hands across ideological divides, and preserving cultural and religious roots”, Dr Rainer Rothfuss, German geopolitical analyst and consultant and AfD MP, told Sputnik.

“We are calling on the international community to pay attention to these events and to provide their assessment to these outrageous actions [crackdown on Archbishop Markell] of the Moldovan authorities," Russian Ambassador-at-Large Gennady Askaldovich said.