Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has described the creation of the Soviet atomic bomb as an act of “God’s grace and mercy” toward Russia.
He made the statement on August 1 after a liturgy at the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery marking the feast of the discovery of the relics of Seraphim of Sarov. The sermon was published on the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Kirill said that scientists working in Sarov created “our Russian atomic bomb.” He claimed the weapon thwarted the plans of enemies seeking to “destroy and enslave” the country.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church also linked the success of the Soviet nuclear program to religion. He said it was no coincidence that the weapon was developed in Sarov, where Seraphim of Sarov had prayed. According to Kirill, some Orthodox physicists share this view.
Sarov, a closed city known as Arzamas-16 during the Soviet era, became one of the USSR’s leading nuclear weapons development centers. Design Bureau No. 11, now known as the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, was established there in 1946.
The first Soviet atomic bomb, RDS-1, was tested at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan on August 29, 1949. The test ended the United States’ monopoly on nuclear weapons and marked the beginning of the nuclear confrontation between the two countries during the Cold War.
