The Russia-Ukraine War and Religion: One Year after the Beginning of the Invasion

In March 2022, after Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine had begun, we published a series exploring the role of religion in the war. In that series, we argued that the religious component of the conflict has manifested itself in a variety of aspects: from religious justification and rhetoric employed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to the perception of the war by Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches, to threats to religious freedom in territories under Russian control.

Commemorating the first-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, we provide an update on these topics.

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Both Symptom and Cause: Four Problems in Eastern Orthodoxy Reflected in the Ukraine War

Jerry G. Pankhurst is professor emeritus of sociology and of Russian and Central Eurasian studies at Wittenberg University.

From its first phase starting in the Euromaidan protests and the “Revolution of Dignity” of 2014 to the present calamitous phase, the war in Ukraine has precipitated a deep review of the state of Eastern Orthodoxy among theologians and among secular scholars who understand the societal impact of religion as well as the personal influence of one’s own faith.

In one sense, the war in Ukraine is a symptom of problems endemic to Eastern Orthodoxy; in some measure, the war is only possible against the backdrop of these broader problems. On the other hand, given the free actions of Russian Patriarch Kirill and others in leadership in the Russian Orthodox Church, the war is also a cause of the current manifestation of these problems across the Orthodox world.

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Russia’s Constitutionalized Civilizational Identity and the Moscow Patriarchate’s War on Ukraine

Robert C. Blitt is the Toms Foundation Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law.

Russia’s 2020 constitutional amendments signaled another ominous chapter in the Kremlin’s hardening “autocratic legalism.” Among the many notable changes introduced, the amendments incorporated as legal norms of the highest order a potent mix of sovereignty and civilization-boosting provisions. Today, these provisions lie at the crux of Putin’s dubious justifications for war in Ukraine. Along with President Putin, the Moscow Patriarchate has unflinchingly reaffirmed these justifications to support a vision of Russian civilization that preserves Russia’s (and the Church’s) status and influence over religion and politics in the post-Soviet “near abroad” and on the global stage.

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