ZURICH—Western and Eastern Christians alike are often startled by the open militarism of the Russian Orthodox Church, which not only endorses the war but also goes so far as to bless soldiers and consecrate nuclear weapons. For many in Europe, such an attitude seems to contradict the spirit of Christianity itself—a faith widely associated with peace, humility, and compassion.
The animating forcebehind Russian society is not Orthodox Christianity per se, but the mythic idea of the “Russian World” (Russkiy Mir).
One might object: how can there be talk of a religious or quasi-religious fervor in Russia when church attendance is dismal and most Russians live secular lives? But this objection rests on a narrow, Abrahamic understanding of what religion is. Religion, in its deeper civilizational function, is not primarily about doctrine—it is about identity. It is a collective worldview, a metaphysical orientation, a sense of who we are and who we are not.
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The animating force behind Russian society is not Orthodox Christianity per se, but the mythic idea of the “Russian World” (Russkiy Mir). This idea, rooted in a deep civilizational self-image, is what defines the Russian sense of purpose, belonging, and enmity. Orthodox Christianity merely serves as an auxiliary.
This newly emerging “Russian Christianity” is as inimical to European civilization as, for instance, Islam.
Consider the parallel with Islamic jihadists of the 2010s. When ISIS surged across the Middle East, Western analysts **rushed to argue that the group did not represent “true Islam.” **Many recruits were buying books such as Islam for Dummies before flying off to Syria or Iraq. But for these individuals, Islam was not about mastering theology. It represented their identity. It defined their self-perception, offered meaning, direction, and—most importantly—a stance against the much-hated West.
Russia today functions in the same way. The doctrine of the Orthodox Church is irrelevant to most Russians. What matters is that the Church, like everything else in Russian public life, is being reshaped to reflect and reinforce the civilizational myth of the Russian World. This myth defines who Russians believe they are—and who they believe their enemies are. And this myth is religious in every meaningful sense. It sacralizes history. It sanctifies violence. It casts the West as a satanic and corrupting force. It turns political leaders into holy warriors and military invasions into sacred missions.
So yes, Russians are religious. Not in the way Westerners today understand religion, but in the only way that truly matters. The Russian World is their faith. It defines their cosmos. And it defines the enemy.
The Russian religion isanimated by an apocalyptic hatred against Europe, a religion inimical to both Western Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy alike.
The accusation that Russia is creating something fundamentally alien to Orthodox Christianity has received formal theological articulation through the concept of ethnophyletism—a heresy first condemned at the Council of Constantinople in 1872. Ethnophyletism refers to the subordination of the Orthodox faith to ethnic identities and national interests, effectively turning a church into an instrument of nationalist ideology rather than a universal spiritual community. The 1872 Council declared this principle contrary to the Gospel and the canons of the Church fathers.
In March 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 1600 Orthodox theologians and clergy from around the world signed the landmark “Declaration on the ‘Russian World’ Teaching,” issued by the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University and the Volos Academy for Theological Studies. The Declaration condemned the “Russian World” (Russkiy Mir) ideology as “a form of Orthodox ethno-phyletist religious fundamentalism, totalitarian in character,” and denounced it as “a false teaching.” The Declaration explicitly identified Moscow’s ideology as a heresy that conflates Russian national identity, Russian state power, and Russian Orthodoxy into a single indivisible whole.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew himself has accused the Russian Orthodox Church of ethnophyletism. In a letter to Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria— whose canonical territory in Africa Moscow had invaded by establishing a rival exarchate—Bartholomew charged that the Russian Church was being instrumentalized for nationalist purposes. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine’s Holy Synod went further still, formally condemning the “Russian World” doctrine as rooted in “the heretical principles of ethnophyletism, Manichaeism and Gnosticism.”
The term ethnophyletism comes closest to describing the evolution of Orthodox Christianity in Russia but still misses the mark. The issue runs deeper and is more fundamental.
“Russian World” (Russkiy Mir) does not simply refer to a narrow ethnic identity but to a wider civilizational world outlook. It is the true religion of Russians in every meaningful sense that defines their cultural identity, their place in the world and their interactions with it. In Russia, Eastern Orthodox Christianity is being subordinated to this visceral impulse and is being molded by it. The historical outcome will be the emergence of a third major Christianity—a “Russian Christianity” that is as different from Eastern Orthodoxy as it is from Western Christianity (Catholicism/Protestantism). Currently, this process is unfolding within Russia.
Importantly, this newly emerging “Russian Christianity” is as inimical to European civilization as, for instance, Islam. And it is engaged in its own holy war (Jihad) against the West. Therefore, by banning the Russian Orthodox Church inside its borders, Ukraine did not ban Orthodox Christianity. It banned an entirely different religion—a religion animated by an apocalyptic hatred against Europe, a religion inimical to both Western Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy alike.
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From Battlefield Proof to French Production Linesnew
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