Russia continues to use religion as a weapon - ISW

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said this in its latest Russian offensive campaign assessment, Ukrinform reports.

American analysts pay attention to the reaction of Russian milbloggers to footage posted on January 7 of uniformed Ukrainian servicemen attending Orthodox Christmas services at the Kyiv-Perchesk Lavra, which the Russians decried as a reprisal and open war on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP). Several milbloggers referred to the footage as evidence that the Lavra has been "captured" by "heretics and schismatics."

"The Russian response to the Ukrainian government’s decision to transfer control of the Lavra to the OCU exemplifies Moscow’s continued weaponization of religion in order to frame Ukraine as evil and position Russia as the protector of Orthodox Christian values," ISW said.

At the same time, American experts added that the Ukrainian authorities did not prevent all believers from celebrating Orthodox Christmas in Ukraine, as Russian propagandists tried to present, and Orthodox services continued throughout Ukraine, including at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, on January 7.

"Russian milbloggers falsely presented the legal transfer of the Kyiv-Perchesk Lavra from the UOC MP, which the Ukrainian government maintains has explicit links to the Kremlin and has provided material and spiritual support to the Russian war in Ukraine, to the OCU as an attack on the ability of observers of Orthodox tradition to celebrate Christmas," the ISW report read.

ISW sees as fair the Ukrainian government's decision to remove the UOC-MP from control over the Lavra as evidence was found of its actual support for the policies of Russian President Putin, who, among other things, in his Orthodox Christmas speech thanked the Russian Orthodox Church for its continued support for Russian troops in Ukraine.

"Ukraine is not suppressing the religious liberties of Orthodox Christians, contrary to the Russian information operation, and is instead taking the steps it deems necessary to distance Ukrainian cultural heritage from religious elements it asserts are linked to the Kremlin and its conduct of the war," ISW said.