The Russian Orthodox Church has declared Russia’s invasion a “holy war” against Ukraine as it looks to form “wider nationalist ideology” around the conflict, according to military analysts.
The declaration was made in a new document adopted by the the World Russian People’s Council, led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the ROC and an ally of Vladimir Putin.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War says the description of a “holy war” marks an escalation in the rhetoric used by Vladimir Putin and his allies. The Kremlin does not use the term “war,” and instead refers to the conflict as Russia’s “special military operation”.
The document – titled “The Present and Future of the Russian World” – argues that “Holy Russia” is being defended from globalism and victory of the West, which it accuses of falling into “Satanism”, and states that the lives, freedom and statehood of Russian citizens are at stake.
It describes the conflict as a new stage in the Russian people’s “struggle” for national liberation in “southwestern Russia” – in reference to eastern and southeastern Ukraine.
It also suggests that the war will end in the entire territory of modern Ukraine falling under Russian influence.
Offering its analysis of the text, the ISW said it could “elicit support” from Russians who see the Kremlin’s “restrained” descriptions of the war “uninspiring”.
The US-based thinktank also suggested that while it may not “fully align itself” with the “ultranationalist ideology” put forward by thechurch, the Kremlin will “highly likely borrow from it” and use it to generate support for the war and acts of aggression against its neighbours and the West.
For context: Patriarch Kirill has been a vocal supporter of the war and previously said Russia was fighting against “evil forces” in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s interior ministry placed him on its wanted list in December after accusing him of abetting the conflict. The symbolic move put Patriarch Kirill under no threat of arrest.
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