Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, religious persecution has become a closely watched dimension of the conflict. Ukraine’s alleged persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), as well as Russia’s documented persecution of non-Russian Orthodox churches in occupied Ukraine, have received the most attention, both among those who follow the conflict closely and among the broader American public. While these issues are important, another grave violation of religious freedom has gone largely unnoticed: the collusion of the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to suppress any form of religiously motivated, anti-war dissent among Russians.
Sergei Chapnin’s recently published Religious Communities Under Pressure: Documenting Religious Persecution in Russia, 2022-2026 is an important step toward remedying this oversight. The book presents Chapnin’s ground-breaking research in a highly readable format that communicates essential truths about the nature of the Russian political and religious regimes and their approach to the war in Ukraine. While the documentation of cases of religious persecution is valuable in itself, Chapnin’s masterful ability to dispel three common misconceptions about the Russian religious landscape makes the book truly essential reading.
The first of these misconceptions is that religious persecution in Russia centers primarily on non-Orthodox religious groups and individuals, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses. I consider myself well-informed about the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its religious dimension, but even I was shocked to learn that the documented cases of persecution of Orthodox anti-war dissidents far outnumber those of other denominations. While some of the victims belong to Orthodox groups outside the ROC, many of them identity, or previously identified, as members of the ROC.
(Chapnin also takes particular note of two non-ROC Orthodox churches that operate in Russia and have taken public anti-war stances: the Apostolic Orthodox Church and “the unofficial Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR-A), which separated from the main ROCOR after the latter’s 2007 reunification with the Moscow Patriarchate.” Although these Orthodox denominations have a small presence within Russia, Chapnin writes that “representatives of these jurisdictions appear, disproportionately to their size, on the foreign agent registry and among defendants in administrative and criminal cases documented in the this report…”)
Chapnin emphasizes that persecution crosses denominational lines – “the common denominator is not theology but political nonconformity” – but a surprising amount of this political nonconformity has clearly been found within the ROC itself. While the ROC’s militant Russkiy Mir ideology offers an all-encompassing vision of Russia’s role in the world, much of the dissent within the ROC – and, correspondingly, the persecution – has centered on the war against Ukraine. Often in tandem with the state, the ROC has clamped down on any show of opposition to the war among clergy and laypeople; transgressions as small as changing the word “victory” to “peace” in a mandated liturgical prayer have led to defrocking and even exile for ROC clergy.
The second misconception Chapnin dispels is that support for the war in Ukraine is monolithic among members of the ROC, and among Russians more generally. Given the Church hierarchy’s vocal support of the war—Patriarch Kiril has even declared Russian soldiers killed fighting in Ukraine to be martyrs—it is understandable that the ROC is widely viewed as simply a pawn of the Russian government. Meanwhile, polls (though of doubtful use in an autocratic society) have shown broad support for the war among the Russian people, leading many to conclude that Russian society is entirely corrupt. While there is some truth to these perceptions – the institutional ROC has subjugated itself to Putin’s regime, and the regime’s ideology has infected large swathes of society – Chapnin shows that this is not the full picture.
Through his case studies of dissent and religious persecution, he makes a convincing argument that the ROC has experienced a split between the hierarchy, which overwhelmingly supports the war in Ukraine and Putin’s regime, and the parish clergy and laypeople, many of whom have shown courageous resistance to the hierarchy’s endorsement of a heretical, militaristic ideology and have suffered the consequences.
The author’s own story lends credence to his argument. Chapnin served in senior editorial positions in the Moscow Patriarchate until 2015, during which time he witnessed firsthand the transformation of the Russian Orthodox Church into a tool of state ideology. He was dismissed from his role for speaking out against this trend and predicting that the ROC would eventually use this ideology to justify military aggression. While Chapnin acknowledges that dissidents within Russia are largely powerless for the time being, his account lays a crucial piece in the foundation of renewal and reconciliation. Rather than casting all ROC members, and all Russians, as irredeemable villains, outside actors must stand ready to support those Russians with the courage to resist the unholy church-state alliance.
The third misconception is that the proper response to the Russia’s transgressions is hatred or despair. While such a response is understandable, I was struck by Chapnin’s palpable love of his mother country and Church. Having experienced firsthand the displeasure of the ROC and the Putin regime, he has every reason to despair of Russia’s redemption, yet he refuses to do so. His harsh critiques stem not from a wish to tear down the ROC or the Russian nation, but to contribute to their renewal. This approach has practical value; after all, the ROC and the Russian nation aren’t going to just disappear, so the only hope for a more peaceful, just future is their healing and revival. More importantly, however, this approach reflects an authentically Christian response to persecution and violence: truth spoken in love. As Chapnin writes,
“What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.” – Matthew 10:27
“These words of Christ remind us that truth disclosed in private must sometimes be proclaimed publicly, especially when those proclaiming it face persecution. This report represents such a proclamation.”
Religious Communities Under Pressure casts much-needed light on the suffering many Russians have undergone for the sake of their religious convictions. Recognizing their sacrifice, and expressing solidarity to the extent possible, is a matter of justice. However, the book also has immense practical significance and is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the root causes of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Referring to Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Putin, President Trump recently opined that the main obstacle to ending the war in Ukraine is “two people that hate each other.” Religious Communities Under Pressure exposes the naiveté of such an understanding of the war.
Through his meticulous research and insightful analysis, Chapnin paints a picture of a political regime and a national church united by a heretical ideology that portrays Ukraine and the West as demonic enemies of Russian religion, and the war on Ukraine as a sacred duty. So powerful is this ideology that both church and state are willing to subject dissenting Russians to exile, imprisonment, and even death. Of course, Trump is correct that Zelensky and Putin aren’t on amicable terms, but anyone who hopes to advance the cause of peace in Ukraine must first understand that ideology, not personal antipathy, is the root cause of the war.