Kathrine Frich
Religion plays a growing role in how Russia’s war against Ukraine is justified at home.
From sermons to state ceremonies, faith has increasingly been woven into political messaging, shaping how power, sacrifice and national destiny are presented to the public.
That narrative was reinforced again this week during a high-profile appearance by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Praise from the pulpit
Speaking during a sermon at the Church of St. Vladimir the Great in the Krylatskoye district of Moscow,
Patriarch Kirill urged Russians to thank God for having Vladimir Putin as their leader.
Russians are living in “very prosperous times,” Kirill said, describing Putin as “the first Orthodox president since the tsarist era.”
“Sometimes you really think: God, is this really happening?” the patriarch said.
According to him, Putin’s leadership is “truly a gift from above,” as reported by The Moscow Times.
Call for gratitude
Kirill went on to encourage believers to express gratitude not only for the country but also for its leadership and current direction.
“Therefore, we must be grateful to God for the country we live in and, frankly, for the government… and, of course, for everything that Russia is doing today,” he said.
The patriarch also warned Russians to resist outside influences, urging them to “work for the good of the Church and the Fatherland” and avoid “the temptations that are sometimes imposed by those who wish the country harm.”
West under criticism
In his sermon, Kirill contrasted Russia’s path with what he described as the moral decline of Western societies.
“We will not judge anyone, but the spiritual and moral crisis of that society is completely obvious,” he said, referring to the “scientifically, technologically and financially developed West.”
He argued that societies built solely on “science, technology and capital” struggle to create conditions in which people can truly be happy.
Faith and the war
Kirill has repeatedly praised Putin’s personal religiosity, previously calling him “an example of a good Christian” and a “sincere believer” who is unashamed to attend church and receive communion.
The patriarch has also urged Russians to pray for Putin. The president himself has said that “from time to time” he feels the need to “turn to the Almighty and worship,” and has claimed he sometimes kneels in prayer.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Kirill has emerged as one of its chief ideological supporters.
In September 2022, he called on Russian soldiers to fight to the death, saying that those who die while carrying out their military duty “offer themselves as a sacrifice for others” and that such sacrifice “washes away all sins.”
Sources: Digi24, The Moscow Times, public sermons of Patriarch Kirill
