Some Russian Soldiers in Ukraine Turning to Pagan Cults that Celebrate the Use of Force, Alarming Moscow Patriarchate

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 14 – Not surprisingly, some Russian soldiers now fighting in Ukraine have turned to pagan cults that celebrate the use of force, a trend that has alarmed the Moscow Patriarchate that in response has called on its priests to play up the stories of Christian saints who displayed military virtues and play down Christian principles of love and non-violence.

            While Patriarch Kirill’s anger about the spread of paganism not only in the military but in the broader society has attracted bemused attention, his efforts to redefine Christianity by playing up military leaders who became saints at the expense of the fundamental principles of Christianity have not.

            And yet that shift, Profile commentator Anton Skripunov says, may be more important because it is important such militant values into Russian society at large and diminishing the countervailing power of Christian love (profile.ru/society/zagovarivaem-oruzhie-pochemu-voennosluzhashhie-vse-chashhe-vybirajut-yazychestvo-1601877/).

            As a result, paganism is growing throughout Russian society, not by leaps and bounds but steadily as Christianity is being transformed and thus weakened, a development that will be far more difficult to overcome even when Putin and his ilk leave the scene – and a warning to other countries where the principles of the Sermon on the Mount are sacrificed to militant values.