The Russian Orthodox Church as a Tool for Kremlin Influence in the Balkans

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

Russia’s connections in the Balkans run deep, tapping into pan-Slavic and pan-Orthodox currents, including selective efforts to support national independence following the nineteenth-century defeat of the Ottoman empire. More recent history, such as Russia’s still-seething rejection of the NATO bombing of Serbia and its strident opposition to Kosovo’s independence, has built on these previous commonalities. The weaving of this cultural and religious affinity narrative is also laminated onto a hardened substrate of Russian upset at the West. Thus, the 1878 Congress of Berlin marking the end of the Russo-Turkish war functions as an anchor point for Russia’s lingering grievance of claimed Western interference and meddling, which continues to be refreshed and expanded on today.

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Calendars, Prayerbooks, and Chatgroups from the Russian-Ukrainian War

Nadieszda Kizenko is a professor of history at University at Albany–SUNY.

At first glance, a Russian-language prayerbook titled Mothers, Wives, Sisters, Let Us Pray for Our Warriors seems to be nothing special. It’s small. It’s made of paper. It’s cheap. Much of what’s inside has appeared in other places and other prayerbooks. And yet it represents a useful framework for looking at how the Russian Orthodox Church is attempting to engage women of faith in the current war against Ukraine. Reading this book prompts the question: what does it mean to have a book scripted by Church authorities for private prayer on a political issue?

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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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