Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said that the current negative attitude toward Russia in the Western world is due to envy.
"Many rebel today, including against our Fatherland. But we know that the Fatherland has not done anything bad to anyone. And they rebel not because we are bad, but because we are different. And this otherness of Russia is what arouses feelings of jealousy, envy and resentment," the patriarch said Sunday after a liturgy at the Church of Methodius and Cyril in Kaliningrad.
"But we cannot change ourselves," he added. "Of course, a lot of people would like, as they say now, to reformat us. But it hasn't worked! Although so much effort and money has been invested in this reformatting of Russia. And it was, and is in its essence - Holy Russia, the inheritance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. God grant that it will continue to be so."
The Primate of the Church believes that if we live according to God's law, if we find the strength to fight our passions and vices, then indeed the Lord will be with us.
"And today we really need God to be with us. And here, on the western border of Russia, it is especially felt (...) May the Lord keep the land of Kaliningrad, our people and the whole Russian land from all enemies and foes. But the most important thing - that God keeps our hearts and our minds and hearts in purity and in faith. If this is the case, no enemies can frighten us," said Patriarch Kirill.
Source: interfax-religion.ru (Russian)