He shamed the pontiff for not knowing about the attitude of Muslims towards the enemy.
“I could spitefully remind you of the Inquisition, the Crusades, or even mention the real brutal footage taken by Bandera scum, the recent executions of unarmed Russian soldiers, but I’d rather tell you about what every Chechen is guided by, whether in war or in civilian life.
This is Islam,” Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel.
He also noted that the Pope was "a victim of propaganda and perseverance" by foreign media.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the statements of Pope Francis about Chechens and Buryats, which he made in an interview with Western media, are an outrageous perversion of the truth.
Russian Ambassador to the Vatican Alexander Avdeev said that he expressed a strong protest to the leadership of the diplomatic service of the Vatican in connection with the statements of Pope Francis about the Chechens and Buryats.
In turn, the head of the Buddhist traditional sangha of Russia XXIV Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev called these statements of the pontiff unkind.