Vladimir Putin came under attack by religious leaders on Sunday, with the Dalai Lama describing him as "self-centred" and the head of Ukraine's Orthodox Church claiming the Russian president is possessed by Satan.
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Referring to the ongoing Ukraine crisis, the Dalai Lama said: "We had become accustomed (to the fact) that the Berlin Wall has fallen.
"Now President Putin seems to want to rebuild it. But he is hurting his own country by doing this. Isolation is suicide for Russia."
Surprisingly, the Dalai Lama compared China favourably to Russia. China has ruled Tibet since invading the country in 1950.
"China and Russia, these are two very different cases," said the Dalai Lama, voicing hope that "the modern world supports China becoming a democratic country".
"China wants to be part of the global political system and will be ready to accept the international rules in the long run," he said in the interview conducted in English.
"I don't have the impression that this accounts for Russia and President Putin, as well, at the moment."
Patriarch Filaret, meanwhile, claimed Mr Putin is possessed by Satan and faces eternal damnation unless he repents,
The head of Ukraine's Orthodox Church said in a statement titled "New Cain" that Mr Putin was trying to "incite bloodshed and killings" in eastern Ukraine.
"With great regret I must now say publicly that among the rulers of this world ... there has appeared a new Cain, not by his name but by his deeds," he said
"Like the first fratricide of history Cain, these deeds show that the aforementioned ruler has fallen under the action of Satan," he said in the statement, published on the patriarchate's website in Ukrainian, Russian and English.
Mr Putin "himself tells obvious outward lies: while organising and sending mercenary killers to our countries, he talks about an 'internal conflict' in which he is allegedly not involved," he said.