Zelensky awards Trump's "spiritual advisor" with an order

Burns and Zelensky. Photo: "We – Ukraine"

On August 24, 2025, during the celebrations in Sophia Square on the occasion of Independence Day, Volodymyr Zelensky awarded the Order of Merit III Class to American pastor Mark Burns, whom the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Asman calls the "spiritual advisor" to Trump.

During the award ceremony, Burns said: "Glory to Ukraine!", to which Zelensky replied: "Glory to the heroes!", and emphasized that these are "the main words you (Burns – Ed.) have to know."

Recall, Burns, after meeting with Yermak, assured that the words about the persecution of the Church in Ukraine are "fakes". He also stated that the authorities of Ukraine invited him to the country to "disprove religious fakes".

Read also

In Podgorica, multi-thousand procession held on city's patron saint day

Thousands of believers walked in a procession through the capital of Montenegro, honoring the memory of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming.

Persecuted UOC parish in Zeleniv reads Great Canon

A Bukovynian Orthodox community, deprived of its church in 2024, conducts Great Lent services in an adapted facility.

Patriarch Bartholomew warns against unacceptable peace for Ukraine

The head of the Constantinople Church stated that to achieve peace in Ukraine, the leaders of nations must take the "narrow path of justice."

MinCulture opens Lavra's Near Caves only for groups and by reservation

The Ministry of Culture's statement says that "the opening of the Near Caves for believers is not only a long-awaited and outstanding event in church life but also a sign of the indestructibility of our faith".

Metropolitan Onuphry reads Great Canon at Intercession Convent of Kyiv

The Primate of the UOC led the Great Compline with the reading of the second part of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete at the capital's Intercesssion Convent.

OCU “hierarch” selling fake ID documents sent to pre-trial detention center

The Ivano-Frankivsk court has chosen a preventive measure for the OCU "bishop" suspected of issuing fictitious ordination certificates for the rank of deacon to evade mobilization.