Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and Religious Freedom: Dmytro Vovk’s Testimony before the USCIRF

Dmytro Vovk is a visiting associate professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Director of the Centre for the Rule of Law and Religion Studies, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Ukraine).

 I’d like to start by saying that contemporary Ukraine and Russia are antipodes in many respects, including with respect to religious freedom. While Ukraine has one of the most liberal religious legal frameworks in the region and a highly competitive religious market, Russia has managed to create a very restrictive religious legislation with one religion, the Russian Orthodox Church, being strongly endorsed and many religious minorities being severely discriminated against and oppressed. This stark contrast between Russia and Ukraine goes far beyond religion, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the Russia-Ukraine war is the war between two opposite political systems, where Ukraine’s is based on freedom and competition, while Russia’s is based on lack of freedom and on oppression.

(more…)

Continue Reading Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and Religious Freedom: Dmytro Vovk’s Testimony before the USCIRF

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.

(more…)

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

The Role of the ROC in the Sacralization of Secular Imperial Nationalism

Alar Kilp is a lecturer in Comparative Politics, University of Tartu (Estonia).

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine lacks legitimacy, and the role of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in endorsing Russia’s war effort lacks justification. Moral assessment of the situation is unambiguous. Ambiguity does exist, however, over the questions of whether the conflict has a religious dimension and what specific role religion has played in the year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022.

(more…)

Continue Reading The Role of the ROC in the Sacralization of Secular Imperial Nationalism