For several weeks, the Russian authorities have been trying to give the Russian offensive in Ukraine a religious and sacred dimension – from a “special military operation” to a “holy war” – and former Russian President Dmytro Medvedev, number two in the powerful Russian Security Council In early November, he declared that ” the sacred goal” of the offensive is to “stop the master of hell,” rhetoric that is causing discord even in the Orthodox Church, AFP reported, News.ro reported.

“We are fighting against those who hate us, who forbid our language, values ​​and even our faith,” Dmytro Medvedev said.

The enemies of Russia are Ukrainian “Nazis” and “dogs” from the West, condemned the former head of state, a close associate of Vladimir Putin.

“Holy war” against the West

A sign of the importance the Kremlin attaches to the spiritual dimension it is trying to instill in its military intervention is the fact that Vladimir Putin declared in his New Year’s wishes that “moral justice” is on Moscow’s side.

This statement illustrates the desire of the authorities to dispel the doubts of a part of the population that is distant from the introduction of Russian troops into a country where the majority of believers, as in Russia, are Orthodox.

As Moscow suffered further military defeats, religious rhetoric has increased since the fall, with senior officials and state media portraying Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine as a “holy war” against the West, presented as decadent.

Priests were sent to the front

In addition to speeches, the interpenetration of the religious and military spheres is evidenced by the sending of dozens of priests to the front to support the military.

Military priest Svyatoslav Churkanov states that these missions are aimed at preventing fighters from “losing their souls (…), even if the situation pushes them to do so.”

The priest must “root in the souls of the soldiers so that they do not torture the prisoners (…). They should not loot, they should not harm civilians,” he continued.

The priest does not doubt the legality of this attack on Ukraine, which, in his opinion, consists in the protection of “traditional values”, the patrons of which are the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church.

The sacrifice of the army “washes away sins”

A sign of the importance of these priests in the war is that in November, Vladimir Putin awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, the country’s highest honor, to an Orthodox priest killed in the war zone, Mykhailo Vasiliev.

The powerful head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kyrylo, spoke out in favor of the military offensive, stressing that it is necessary to support the pro-Russian “brothers” in the east of Ukraine, who have “rejected” Western values.

In a sermon at the end of September, he said those killed were fulfilling their “military duty” through “a sacrifice that washes away all sins.”

Sort out in the Church

But this involvement of the Church in the war and the increasingly religious rhetoric surrounding it do not enjoy unanimity in Russia.

“This rhetoric of ‘holy war’ comes straight from the Middle Ages,” says Andriy Kordotsykin, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church stationed in Madrid.

The Moscow Patriarchate shows its support for the military invasion, but it caused a wave in the Orthodox world, a bitter struggle between the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches.

There are divisions within the Russian clergy, and on March 1, 293 Orthodox clerics signed an editorial against the “fratricidal war.”

“Not only Russian society is divided, but also the Church and the clergy,” says priest Andriy Kordotsykin.

Several signatories of the text were sanctioned by the Patriarchate, which evicted them from their parishes, one of them said on condition of anonymity.

“In recent years, the ties between the high Orthodox hierarchy and the government have strengthened (…). The state helped the Church a lot, and this help created a great dependence,” he says.

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