Under the overcoat: God save the Tsar

To load the audio player provided by Soundcloud, click the button below. This means Soundcloud will receive technical data about your device or browser, as well as information about your visit on this page. Soundcloud may use cookies and may transfer your data to servers outside the EU, where the level of data protection may not be equivalent to that in the EU. For more information visit our privacy policy.

Load player

PGlmcmFtZSB0aXRsZT0iVW5kZXIgdGhlIG92ZXJjb2F0OiBHb2Qgc2F2ZSB0aGUgVHNhciBieSBFQ0ZSIE9OIEFJUiIgd2lkdGg9IjY0MCIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzOTAiIHNjcm9sbGluZz0ibm8iIGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyPSJubyIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3cuc291bmRjbG91ZC5jb20vcGxheWVyLz92aXN1YWw9dHJ1ZSZ1cmw9aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZhcGkuc291bmRjbG91ZC5jb20lMkZ0cmFja3MlMkYxNjg3NjQ0NDc3JnNob3dfYXJ0d29yaz10cnVlJm1heGhlaWdodD0zOTAmbWF4d2lkdGg9NjQwIj48L2lmcmFtZT4=

The Russian Orthodox Church is supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine in its sermons, sending priests to the front, and collecting humanitarian aid for soldiers and the occupied Ukrainian territories. It is also involved in the administration of the occupied territories and in promoting propaganda narratives abroad. So why did the head of the Church, Patriarch Kirill, bet on Putin? How influential is the Church in Russian politics and society? What will happen to it after the war and will it survive Putin’s regime?

ECFR’s new podcast on Russia, “Under the Overcoat”, will explore the deeper trends beneath the surface of daily politics. To dive deeper into the role of the Russian Orthodox Church, our host Kadri Liik is joined by ECFR visiting fellow Ksenia Luchenko and Alexander Agadjanian, a senior research fellow at Yerevan State University.

Bookshelf:

Daniel Stein, Interpreter: A Novel | Ludmila Ulitskaya
La Sainte Russie contre l’Occident
Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine | Catherine Wanner
Understanding World Christianity: Russia | Alexander S. Agadjanian and Scott M. Kenworthy

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

We will store your email address and gather analytics on how you interact with our mailings. You can unsubscribe or opt-out at any time. Find out more in our privacy notice.