The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has played a significant role in enabling Putin’s war against Ukraine, going beyond mere compliance with the Kremlin. During the invasion, the ROC became a key partner of the government, blessing military aggression, spreading propaganda, and facilitating the deportation of Ukrainian civilians to Russia. The church also actively relied on its Ukrainian proxy, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which accounted for nearly 40% of all Orthodox churches in Ukraine before the war.
The ROC’s involvement with the UOC-MP has been a point of contention, with over 100 criminal cases opened against ROC-affiliated priests for aiding Russia’s war effort. Other countries have also taken action against the ROC, expelling Russian clergy on espionage charges. In response, Ukraine passed a law restricting the activities of religious organizations affiliated with the ROC.
Despite this, over 90% of UOC-MP parishes failed to comply with the new regulations, and more than 8,000 ROC-linked churches still operate in Ukraine-controlled territory. The Kremlin has seized on these facts to spread propaganda that Ukraine is persecuting religious believers, a narrative that has found fertile ground in some US conservative circles.
The article highlights the distortion of reality by saying “people who shout that there is no freedom in Ukraine” are actually referring to the lack of freedom in Russia, where even thinking differently can lead to negative consequences. The author suggests that the real killer of faith is not who you think it is, but rather the Russian government’s actions.
Overall, the article argues that the ROC has enabled Putin’s war against Ukraine and that its involvement goes far beyond mere compliance with the Kremlin.
