Religious factor in the current Russia-Ukraine war

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to present the study results of the impact of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine on the religious and ecclesiastical sphere. The scientific novelty. The processes taking place in a religious and church life, and the peculiarities of the activity of churches and religious organizations in Ukraine during the war have been analysed. The reaction of the international religious community to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine has been highlighted. Forms of spiritual support and material assistance to Ukraine in its struggle against the Russian occupiers by various domestic and foreign religious communities have been shown. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, system-formation, scientific character, the author’s objectivity, and the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization), special and historical (historical systemic, historical typological, etc.) methods. The Conclusion. Under the conditions of the Russian military invasion of the territory of Ukraine, the religious and ecclesiastical sphere has been significantly affected. Russia’s aggression has caused dramatic changes in the religious environment and has provoked significant opposition from believers, clergy and religious organizations of various denominations. Сurrently, there are several trends in the religious and ecclesiastical sphere in Ukraine: condemnation of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine by religious organizations; providing various spiritual and material assistance to churches, religious communities, defenders of Ukraine, victims and refugees; support of Ukraine’s struggle against the Russian invaders by foreign religious organizations; deterioration of relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; intensification of the process of changing the jurisdiction of Orthodox communities and exacerbation of contradictions in the Orthodox environment. The problems in the religious and ecclesiastical sphere that emerged during the war will be finally resolved after Ukraine’s victory over the Russian invaders