Russia says Vatican has apologised over Pope's 'cruel' remark on Chechens & Buryats troops

Back in November, the head of the Catholic church Pope Francis gave an interview to a monthly Christian magazine. The magazine is published by Jesuits and is headquartered in Manhattan. In the interview, the Pope talked about the Russia-Ukraine war. A comment he made during the interview caught Russia's attention. During the interview, the Pope said that Chechens and Buryats are the "cruelest" group of people fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war. 

"Generally, the cruelest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryats, and so on," he said, as per a report from Newsweek. According to the report, Alexander Avdeev, Russia's ambassador to the Vatican expressed "indignation" at the Pope's comments. The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov also slammed the Pope's comments. Now, the Russian foreign ministry is claiming that the Vatican has reached out to Moscow and apologised for the Pope's comments on Russia's ethnic minorities. 

Russia says the Vatican has apologised

Maria Zakharova, who is spokesperson of Russia's foreign ministry, said that Russia's foreign ministry has received an apology from Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State Vatican, as per a report from TASS. "The State Secretariat of the Vatican apologizes to the Russian side. The Holy See has deep respect for all the peoples of Russia, their dignity, faith and culture, as well as for other countries and peoples of the world," read the apology, according to Zakharova. The Vatican has not confirmed the apology but it has admitted that a "diplomatic contact" was made. Zakharova has said that the matter with the Vatican has been resolved and Moscow expects constructive interaction with the Vatican. 

Ethnic minorities in Russia

Russia is a multiethnic and multilingual country, with more than 190 ethnic groups and over 100 languages spoken within its borders. The largest ethnic group in Russia is Russian, which makes up about 78% of the population. The other major ethnic groups in Russia include Tatar, Ukrainian, Bashkir, Buryats, Chuvash, and Chechen.

Who are the Buryats and Chechens?

The Buryats are an ethnic group native to the Russian Federation, with a significant population in the Republic of Buryatia in Eastern Siberia. The Buryats are the largest indigenous group in Siberia and are the fifth-largest ethnic group in Russia. They are a Mongolic people and speak the Buryat language, which is part of the Mongolian language family.

The Chechens are an ethnic group native to the North Caucasus region of Russia. They are a predominantly Muslim people and speak the Chechen language, which belongs to the Nakh-Dagestanian language family. The Chechens have a long and complex history, with a strong tradition of clan-based society and a history of resistance to foreign rule.