Pat Robertson Insists Putin ‘Compelled by God’ to Invade Ukraine and Kick Off ‘End Times’

Televangelist Pat Robertson came out of retirement on Monday to declare that Russian President Vladimir Putin is following God’s wishes by violently invading Ukraine, insisting this is a step towards a global “End Times” battle in Israel. The 91-year-old evangelical, who stepped down as host of The 700 Club last fall, returned on Monday to discuss the Ukraine crisis as only he can: “People say that Putin’s out of his mind. Yes, maybe so. But at the same time, he’s being compelled by God. He went into the Ukraine but that wasn’t his goal. His goal was to move against Israel, ultimately.” Claiming that Ukraine is merely a “staging area” for one of the great Biblical armies that will gather for Armageddon in Israel, he later told viewers to “read your Bible” because “it’s coming to pass.” This is far from the first time that Robertson has warned that the end of the world is nigh. He has predicted that “there is going to be a judgment on the world” in 1982, the Pacific Northwest would be devastated by a tsunami in 2006, “mass killings”would be unleashed in America in 2007, and an asteroid would destroy the earth after President Donald Trump won re-election in 2020. None of those ever came to pass.