Ukraine disappointed by Pope's words on death of Daria Dugina
11:28
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, said Thursday that the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, had been invited to the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv to express disappointment at Pope Francis' words on the death of Daria Dugina, a Russian propagandist who advocated the invasion of Ukraine.
"I think of that poor girl, blown up because of a bomb under the seat of a car. The innocent are paying the price for the war," the Pope acknowledged to the general audience.
"We carefully reviewed the entire quote by Pope Francis, and first of all, we took the decision to invite the Apostolic Nuncio to the Foreign Ministry to express Ukraine's disappointment with these words," Dmytro Kuleba explained during a briefing with his Italian counterpart Luigi di Maio in Kyiv.
"And secondly, I will say openly, the Ukrainian heart is breaking because of the Pope's words. It was unfair," the minister added.
Daria Dugina is the daughter and associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin's advisor, Alexander Dugin – a Kremlin ideologue and supporter of the invasion of Ukraine. She died on Saturday (August 20) in an attack in a Moscow suburb. Her car burst into flames after a bomb planted in the car exploded. The attack was claimed by a previously unknown organization called the Russian National Republican Army (RNAR), which aims to remove current Russian President Vladimir Putin from power.
