On Wednesday, September 17 at 9:00 a.m. ET, the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center hosts a discussion on the Russian Orthodox Church’s role in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

The Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate’s full support of the war has been evident since 2014; the 2022 full-scale invasion only intensified this support.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a “partial mobilization” of soldiers in the fall of 2022, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, said Russian soldiers who died fighting in Ukraine would be forgiven for all their sins. The Church also called Russia’s invasion a “Holy War,” while also advancing the Kremlin’s interests across Russian society.

This discussion, held in partnership with the Free Russia Foundation, will analyze the church’s role in the war effort and Western conceptions of the Moscow Patriarchate.

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Opening remarks

Shelby Magid
Deputy Director, Eurasia Center
Atlantic Council

Speakers

Sergei Chapnin
Director of Communications, Orthodox Christian Studies Center
Fordham University

Father Valerian Dunin-Barkovsky
Chairman
Mir Vsem/Peace to All

Very Reverend Andrey Kordochkin
Cleric of the Archdiocese of Belgium and Exarchate of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Ecumenical Patriarchate)

Elizabeth H. Prodromou
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Eurasia Center
Atlantic Council 

Moderated by

Vladimir Kara-Murza
Vice President
Free Russia Foundation

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The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.

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