Religion and the Russian invasion of Ukraine

The role of religion in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with the impact the invasion has had on religion, have attracted significant attention. Peter Mandaville of the United States Institute of Peace has stated that "the conflict in Ukraine is not only a matter of horrible violence, but also a conflict with deeply rooted religious significance."

Orthodox church in Russia
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has been described by many commentators as supporting the invasion. In a Forgiveness Sunday sermon on 6 March, he stated that the invasion would determine "which side of God humanity will be on," saying that Western governments were attempting to destroy the separatist Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic for rejecting Western "so-called values," such as LGBT+ rights.

However, some priests in the Russian Orthodox Church have publicly opposed the invasion, with some facing arrest under the new Russian war censorship laws criminalising "discrediting" the armed forces. In Kazakhstan, Russian Orthodox priest Iakov Vorontsov, who was one of about 300 clergy who signed an open letter condemning the invasion of Ukraine, was forced to resign. Russian former priest-monk Ioann Kurmoyarov condemned the invasion and was sentenced to three years in prison for, among other things, telling Russian troops they would be going to hell.

Kristina Stoeckl of the University of Innsbruck has stated that "this war and the justifications given by the Russian president and the head of the church for the military aggression have made clear how closely the Orthodox Church and the state are linked in Russia." Georg Michels of the University of California, Riverside has argued that "the Russian Orthodox Church is providing much of the symbolism and ideology that Putin has used to cement his popularity" and that this symbolism "derives from the Kremlin’s mythologization of Russia’s historical past." The links between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government under Vladimir Putin have led some commentators to describe the invasion as a religious war.

Some commentators have pointed to Russian Christian nationalism as playing a role in the Russian government's motivations for the invasion. Jason Stanley of Yale University argued that the invasion was in part motivated by antisemitism, saying that Putin was "the leader of Russian Christian nationalism" and "has come to view himself as the global leader of Christian nationalism, and is increasingly regarded as such by Christian nationalists around the world." Mark Silk of Trinity College has argued that it would be overstating it to call the invasion a religious war, but that "there can be no doubt that, under Putin, the Russian Orthodox Church has resumed its czarist role as an arm of state policy," calling it the political religion of Russian Orthodox nationalism.

Dozens of Russian Orthodox priests who refuse to publicly pray for military victory over Ukraine have been punished, including via defrocking. Patriarch Kirill has made such prayers mandatory.

Splits with the Russian Orthodox Church
The invasion of Ukraine, and the Russian Orthodox Church's seeming support for it has caused controversy among Orthodox churches elsewhere in the world. The invasion has been condemned by Bartholomew I of Constantinople, and by Patriarch Daniel of Romania, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria, and Archbishop Leo of Helsinki and All Finland.

On 13 March, the Parish of Saint Nicholas of Myra in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, announced that it would be disaffiliating from the Russian Orthodox Church due to its support of the invasion, to instead affiliate with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

On 17 March, Archbishop Innokentiy, head of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church, announced that the Church would "strive for an even greater independence" from the Russian Orthodox Church, condemning the invasion.

Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP) called the war "a disaster" stating that "The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper Baptismal font, and the war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy. Such a war has no justification either from God or from people." On 27 May 2022, following an official church council held at the Feofaniia convent in Kyiv, it was announced that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had declared its full independence and autonomy from the Moscow Patriarchate. On 2 December 2022 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered a bill to the Verkhovna Rada that would officially ban all activities of the UOC in Ukraine.

Other Christianity


Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, has condemned the invasion. On 16 March, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill held a video meeting to discuss the invasion for the first time. Afterwards, they released a joint statement saying they "stressed the exceptional importance of the ongoing negotiation process, expressing their hope for the soonest achievement of a just peace." Claire Giangravé of Religious News Service has argued that the invasion has "set back the clock on overcoming the Christian divide between East and West." On 30 April 2023, Pope Francis announced that the Vatican is taking part in a secret "peace mission" to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Former Russian Orthodox priest Father Grigory Michnov-Vaytenko, head of the Russian Apostolic Church — a recognized religious organization founded by other dissident priests such as Father Gleb Yakunin — has been helping Ukrainian refugees in Russia, saying that "The [Russian Orthodox] church now works like the commissars did in the Soviet Union. And people of course see it. People don’t like it. Especially after February [2022], a lot of people have left the church, both priests and people who were there for years."

Archbishop Dietrich Brauer, head of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Russia, left Russia in March 2022.

The day after the invasion began, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that it would "pray that this armed conflict will end quickly" and "that the controversies will end peacefully," but did not directly refer to either Ukraine or Russia in the statement.

Judaism
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish.

Haaretz has reported that the Russian government has pressured Russian Jewish institutions to speak in favour of the invasion, including with threats of retaliation if those institutions did not. Some Jewish Russian opposition figures have been targeted with antisemitic threats due to their opposition to the war, including Alexei Venediktov.

The Chief Rabbi of Kyiv, Rabbi Jonathan Markovitch has pledged to care for those who are unable to flee as Russian forces continue their assault on Ukraine’s capital. He went to dozens of countries (Washington DC, Israel, England, etc.) to help Ukraine with humanitarian aid.

The Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, spoke out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, called Russia to withdraw and for an end to the war, and offered to mediate. The Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Pinchas Goldschmidt, left Russia after he refused a request from state officials to publicly support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Goldschmidt said that "Pressure was put on community leaders to support the war and I refused to do so. I resigned because to continue as chief rabbi of Moscow would be a problem for the community because of the repressive measures taken against dissidents." On 30 June 2023, Goldschmidt was designated in Russia as a foreign agent.

In October 2022, Assistant Secretary of the Russian Security Council Aleksey Pavlov called for the "desatanization" of Ukraine, claiming that the country was home to hundreds of neo-pagan cults, including Orthodox Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev apologized for Pavlov's words.

Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov accused Western-backed Ukrainian "Banderites" of attempting to assassinate him because he is a "Jewish anti-fascist."

Islam
Islam is a prominent minority faith in Russia, and some Muslims in that country have given theological justifications for supporting the invasion of Ukraine. Magomed Khitanev, a Muslim military commander, described the Russian invasion as a "holy jihad" and said “We’re on the side of God! We are defending divine laws. We are defending our faith. We're asking: Oh Ukrainians, why did you permit gay parades in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa?" Khitanev also falsely accused Pope Francis, who opposes the invasion, of officially endorsing gay marriage and gender transition and claimed that the “Roman Pope officially opened the temple of Satan.” The event featuring Khitanev and Vladimir Solovyov was widely broadcast on Russian state TV.

The Grand Mufti of Russia, Talgat Tadzhuddin and other Russia's Muslim leaders supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Two Muslim Tajik soldiers that had enlisted in the Russian army began the Soloti military training ground shooting against their commanders and other soldiers after an argument with other soldiers about whether the war in Ukraine was "holy" (the Tajiks' position being that the only just war would be one waged by Muslims against infidels). They began the shooting after a lieutenant colonel allegedly described Allah as a "weakling" and "coward."

Slavic neopaganism
Rodnovery, or Slavic Native Faith, has a substantial number of followers in Russia and in other Slavic countries. The Wagner Group, a private military company which played a major role in the invasion, had close ties to Slavic and Nordic neopaganism, and it included an ideological branch whose purpose was to promote Rodnover ideas. Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin drew an explicit connection between pagan symbols such as Thor’s Hammer and Wagner fighters’ use of sledgehammers as a weapon. Senior figures in the Russian Orthodox Church were outspokenly critical of Wagner due to its neopagan ties.

Other religions


The current Dalai Lama expressed “anguish” over the bloodshed in Ukraine, saying that “war is outdated” and calling for a quick return to peace.

Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev, the head of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia (BTSR), the largest Buddhists denomination in Russia, voiced support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 1 October 2022, Erdne Ombadykov, the Supreme Lama of Russia's Republic of Kalmykia, fled Russia to Mongolia and condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 27 January 2023, he was recognized in Russia as a foreign agent.

Ukraine’s defense ministry was accused of Hinduphobia after tweeting an image depicting the goddess Kali rising out of blast smoke. After an outcry from some Hindus, the tweet was deleted.