Can a war be holy?

President Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, recently announced that Russia is waging a war against Ukraine. It is understood that Russian officials have abandoned the "special military operation" euphemism they have repeatedly used for over 2 years. A week ago, the Russian Orthodox Church also used the word "war" with a much more interesting expression. On March 27, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) approved a document titled "The Present and Future of the Russian World," which characterizes President Vladimir Putin's large-scale invasion of Ukraine as a "holy war." Along with analysis and recommendations for Russian officials, the document includes 8 key elements: special military operation, Russkiy Mir (Russian World), foreign policy, family and demographic policy, migration policy, schooling and education, urban development, and economic development.

According to the Russian church, the ongoing “holy war” in Ukraine “protects the spiritual space of holy Russia. It protects the world from the onslaught of globalization and the victory of the West, which has fallen into Satanism.” The church's statement recalls the ideas of Russian ultra-nationalist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin, who has stated for years that the West represents an anti-Christian phenomenon that has no connection with Christian values or the adoption of Christianity. Dugin, a staunch defender of Orthodox conservatism, also stated in his work "The Fourth Political Theory": “Russia can develop and live according to its own internal logic, determined by its religion, historical mission, and specific and unique culture.”

At the same time, the document adopted by the Russian church envisions that the entire territory of Ukraine should fall into Russia's exclusive sphere of influence. This, of course, is not limited to the spiritual-religious part but also takes into account the military and political aspects. Under the "foreign policy" heading, it is mentioned that Russia becoming one of the main centers of a multipolar world is only possible if it dominates the entire post-Soviet space. The Russian Church says that Russia can only succeed in destroying "universal hegemony in the world" through the Russkiy Mir. The document mentions the triad of the Russian people, consisting of Russians, Little Russians (Ukrainians), and Belarusians. With this statement, the ROC, led by Patriarch Kirill, denies the existence of Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Russians as distinct peoples. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill said that Ukraine and Belarus were part of "Russian lands" and labeled Ukrainians defending themselves against Russian aggression as "forces of evil." He described the war as “a war for the future of Christianity.”

In another paragraph of the document, the ROC addresses one of the most serious problems Russia is currently facing: the demographic crisis. A negative demographic index has already been maintained for several years, and under conditions of war with a neighboring state, Russia's demographic crisis seems to be entering a new phase. The church, which brought up the proposal to ban abortion last year, is proposing to officials this year that Russians with 3 or 4 children be exempt from loan payments. It states that the Russian state should aim to increase the population to 600 million in the next 100 years.

One of the controversial points of the document touches on the fact that Slavs should remain within Russians and that it should no longer accept foreign people with different values, traditions, or a different language. However, it seems that Patriarch Kirill has forgotten that there are republics of Tatarstan, Dagestan, and Chechnya in Russia where Muslims live and which have different values and traditions.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has severed ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, looks at the situation differently: "From a biblical perspective, military actions cannot be justified as 'holy,' nor can those who call themselves clergy make such claims."

Orthodoxy and the entire Russian Orthodox Church play a major role in the process of the Russian nation's cultural self-identification and self-formation. When Vladimir Putin came to the Russian presidency, he realized that with the help of the ROC, he could expand his influence both inside and outside Russia. Thus, the ROC became a very important ally of the Kremlin. Supporting the conservative agenda, banning LGBT organizations, and promoting traditional moral and social values and the image of the traditional family have made the ROC and the Kremlin two inseparable allies. Now, most Russians, in addition to its religious aspect, see Orthodoxy as a cultural and national element that distinguishes them from other peoples.

For Russians, defending the Motherland is a sacred duty. This was even in the Soviet Constitution. In today's Russian national anthem, the following words are included: "Russia is our holy state, our Motherland is defended by God." Patriotism is impossible in Russia without the concept of "holy." The term "holy war" is not new for Russians or for the whole world.

So far, two wars in Russian history have been called holy: the 1812 Russian-French War and the Second World War against Nazi Germany. Therefore, the war in Ukraine is included in Russian historical sources as the third "holy war."