Vladimir Putin has justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine in part by appealing to the minority Russian Orthodox community in the country, which he says has been oppressed by the Ukrainian government.
DMYTRO VOVK
Yaroslav University (Ukraine)
There is no economic argumentation for this conflict, there is no rational political argumentation, it is something like I said, religious in a very broad anthropological meaning.
Over half of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians, and only 15% belong to the Patriarchate of Moscow, whose head, Patriarch Kirill, has called for the preservation of Russia's common historical Motherland, which he says includes Ukraine, Belarus, and other territories.
Previously, Pope Francis has signaled his desire to meet with him.
POPE FRANCIS
A meeting with Patriarch Kirill is on the not-too-distant horizon.
The Russian Orthodox population is largely concentrated in the Eastern part of the country, where numerous instances of religious persecution have been recorded since Russia began moving troops into the area in 2014.
EUGENIA KUZNETSOVA
Researcher, Kyiv School of Economics
In the occupied territories by Russia in Donbas, any believers except for Russian Orthodox Church were banned and there have been even cases of murders particularly of evangelists in those territories.
Prior to the war, Ukraine enjoyed some of the strongest religious liberty laws in the region, which lead to a plurality of faiths in the country, including the largest Eastern Catholic Rite, headed by Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who has been a fierce critic of the Russian invasion.
DMYTRO VOVK
Yaroslav University (Ukraine)
This makes Ukraine different from other post-Soviet Orthodox majorities, like Moldova, Georgia, and especially Belarus and Russia.
It is unclear what will become of the different religious confessions present in Ukraine, yet for now it is clear that they will all be praying for peace.
JM
