The End of Unity: How the Russian Orthodox Church Lost Ukraine

Regina Elsner is a Researcher at the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS).

Since the end of the Soviet Union, dozens of theologians and scholars of religion elaborated on the complicated relationship within the church community of the so-called Holy Rus’. The Moscow Patriarchate defines its territory of spiritual responsibility in the borders of the Soviet Union—except for the old churches of Armenia and Georgia. The core of this spiritual community is Kyiv as the place of baptism of Rus’ in 988 and Moscow as the residency of the head of the church, today Patriarch Kirill. Bitter as it is, the territory of the Soviet Union was always closer to the ecclesiastical understanding of this sacred territory than the Russian Federation and its independent neighbor states, and the Russian Orthodox Church made comprehensive theological, historiographical, and political efforts to design the unity of the people in a new way.

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Pray Against Foreign Invasion or Pray for Peace? Ukrainian Orthodox Churches and the Russian-Ukrainian War

Andriy Fert is a PhD candidate at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine).

As tensions on the Russian-Ukrainian border grew, the difference between the two main Orthodox churches in Ukraine became clearer. While the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) spoke straightforwardly about the prospect of the Russian invasion and urged believers to protect their Homeland, the leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) remained silent up until recently. Several UOC-MP public figures and media outlets repeatedly dismissed the prospect of invasion as “hysteria” and accused the OCU of spreading panic in the interest of the West.

Prayers for the Ukrainian Army

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU)—a relatively new religious entity that came into being in late 2018—was among the first religious institutions to call on believers to pray for victory and the Ukrainian army. As early as December 2021, the OCU’s Zakarpatya Diocese, located near Hungary, proclaimed 2022 “a year of intense prayer for the Ukrainian army” in light of the Russian military build-up on the border.

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Too Soon to Say: International Criminal Law’s Role in the Conflict in Ukraine

Michelle Coleman is a Lecturer in Law at Swansea University.

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a widescale invasion of Ukraine resulting in an ongoing armed conflict. Since that date, numerous sources have been quick to call for the investigation and possible prosecution of international crimes arising out of the conflict. These calls to action open questions about whether international criminal law is an appropriate tool during armed conflict and what investigation and prosecution might be able to accomplish.

International Criminal Law is a legal system designed to prosecute international crimes. General categories of international crimes include aggression, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. These crimes are defined by customary law and the International Criminal Court, although the specific range of international crimes available can vary and depends on the particular jurisdiction that is engaging in the prosecution. Russia has already been publicly accused of aggression for their invasion; however, this alleged crime is unlikely to be prosecuted due to jurisdiction issues. Beyond the possibility of aggression as an initial potential crime, other international crimes may or may not be committed during the conflict. The existence of armed conflict is not by itself a crime.

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