GIOR Analysis: The Russian Orthodox Church- Putin Weaponizes Religion

The Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church (ROC), under the lead­er­ship of the Moscow Patri­ar­chate, has evolved into a cen­tral instru­ment of Russ­ian state influ­ence, oper­at­ing well beyond its reli­gious man­date to advance Krem­lin inter­ests abroad. Across Europe and the Unit­ed States, the ROC is rec­og­nized for its role in dis­sem­i­nat­ing pro-Krem­lin nar­ra­tives, con­duct­ing espi­onage, and recruit­ing intel­li­gence assets. No longer lim­it­ed to pas­toral duties or cul­tur­al preser­va­tion, the Church now oper­ates as a transna­tion­al ide­o­log­i­cal actor whose activ­i­ties align close­ly with Russ­ian for­eign pol­i­cy goals.

Global Influence Operations and Strategic Narratives

The Glob­al Influ­ence Oper­a­tions Report (GIOR) has described how the Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church has become a piv­otal tool for Krem­lin influ­ence, uti­liz­ing its spir­i­tu­al author­i­ty and transna­tion­al net­works to advance Russ­ian soft pow­er and ide­o­log­i­cal nar­ra­tives world­wide. Its influ­ence oper­a­tions are mul­ti­fac­eted, pro­mot­ing Russ­ian state pro­pa­gan­da, defend­ing Russ­ian mil­i­tary actions, and cham­pi­oning “tra­di­tion­al val­ues” while oppos­ing West­ern lib­er­al­ism. The ROC frames Rus­sia as a defend­er of a moral and reli­gious order, a nar­ra­tive that res­onates deeply among con­ser­v­a­tive move­ments abroad. As report­ed by GIOR, in regions such as the Balka­ns, Rus­sia exploits shared reli­gious tra­di­tions to forge deep­er polit­i­cal and cul­tur­al con­nec­tions, often using Ortho­dox Chris­tian­i­ty as a con­duit for strate­gic influ­ence over sec­tors like ener­gy, real estate, and local elites.

Building Conservative and Diaspora Networks

By cul­ti­vat­ing con­ser­v­a­tive net­works among both the Russ­ian dias­po­ra and local pop­u­la­tions, the ROC fos­ters a sense of shared cul­tur­al and reli­gious iden­ti­ty with Rus­sia. This iden­ti­ty-build­ing is not mere­ly sym­bol­ic; it pro­vides the Krem­lin with a recep­tive audi­ence for its broad­er ide­o­log­i­cal agen­da. The Church’s influ­ence extends into media and dig­i­tal plat­forms, where affil­i­at­ed out­lets ampli­fy state nar­ra­tives and dis­in­for­ma­tion, embed­ding Russ­ian per­spec­tives in for­eign soci­eties. These efforts often include part­ner­ships with sym­pa­thet­ic actors in West­ern coun­tries who pro­mote nar­ra­tives of cul­tur­al decline in the West and a spir­i­tu­al revival cen­tered in Moscow. In the US, the GIOR has report­ed that the Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church Out­side Rus­sia (ROCOR) is expe­ri­enc­ing rapid expan­sion, pri­mar­i­ly dri­ven by young male con­verts who are reject­ing mod­ern Amer­i­can cul­ture and embrac­ing what they per­ceive as authen­tic mas­cu­line spirituality.

Political Coordination and Undermining Western Integration

Polit­i­cal­ly, the ROC col­lab­o­rates close­ly with Russ­ian embassies and state agen­cies to fos­ter polit­i­cal and cul­tur­al ties, par­tic­u­lar­ly in coun­tries with sub­stan­tial Ortho­dox pop­u­la­tions. This coor­di­na­tion facil­i­tates the pen­e­tra­tion of Russ­ian state inter­ests into nation­al and region­al insti­tu­tions. In nations such as Ukraine and Bul­gar­ia, the Church has sought to under­mine nation­al iden­ti­ty and inte­gra­tion with the West by sup­port­ing pro-Russ­ian fac­tions and oppos­ing pro-West­ern move­ments. GIOR high­lights that with­in Europe, Estonia’s recent leg­isla­tive push to sev­er church ties with Moscow under­scores mount­ing con­cerns about the Ortho­dox Church’s role in fur­ther­ing Krem­lin objec­tives. This leg­isla­tive action reflects not only domes­tic resis­tance to Russ­ian influ­ence but also a grow­ing recog­ni­tion of the ROC’s role in hybrid oper­a­tions, par­tic­u­lar­ly in light of its overt sup­port for Russ­ian mil­i­tary actions in Ukraine.

Espionage, Recruitment, and Intelligence Activity

In sev­er­al Euro­pean coun­tries, the ROC has been accused of lever­ag­ing its influ­ence with­in refugee com­mu­ni­ties to sup­press pro-Ukrain­ian voic­es and pro­mote loy­al­ty to Moscow. These activ­i­ties are not iso­lat­ed inci­dents but part of a broad­er pat­tern of covert oper­a­tions involv­ing reli­gious infra­struc­ture. Espi­onage and intel­li­gence activ­i­ties con­duct­ed through church struc­tures are well-doc­u­ment­ed. Russ­ian intel­li­gence ser­vices have repeat­ed­ly recruit­ed agents from among ROC cler­gy and parish­ioners, uti­liz­ing church net­works as cov­er for espi­onage oper­a­tions. There have been instances where cler­gy were found in pos­ses­sion of dossiers on promi­nent individuals—information that could be used for black­mail or recruit­ment pur­pos­es. The strate­gic place­ment of ROC church­es near sen­si­tive infrastructure—such as nuclear plants and air­ports in Swe­den and oth­er countries—has also raised sus­pi­cions of intel­li­gence-gath­er­ing activ­i­ties. Inter­nal doc­u­ments reveal direct coop­er­a­tion between the ROC and Russ­ian secu­ri­ty agen­cies, with cler­gy involve­ment in “oper­a­tional activ­i­ties” sanc­tioned by church lead­er­ship. These rev­e­la­tions expose the dual-use nature of reli­gious orga­ni­za­tions under Krem­lin control.

International Case Studies of ROC Operations

Notable cas­es illus­trate the scope and sophis­ti­ca­tion of these activ­i­ties, con­firm­ing that the ROC’s role in intel­li­gence and influ­ence oper­a­tions is not mere­ly the­o­ret­i­cal but oper­a­tional­ly significant:

• Unit­ed States: The FBI has inves­ti­gat­ed ROC cler­gy for recruit­ing agents among Ortho­dox com­mu­ni­ties. In one case, a priest’s com­put­er was found to con­tain detailed files on oth­er cler­gy and their fam­i­lies, like­ly intend­ed for black­mail or recruit­ment. These cas­es high­light the Church’s poten­tial as a cov­er for intel­li­gence-gath­er­ing oper­a­tions on U.S. soil.
• Bul­gar­ia: Author­i­ties expelled Russ­ian Archi­man­drite Vass­ian and two Belaru­sian priests for actions deemed threat­en­ing to nation­al secu­ri­ty. These includ­ed pro­mot­ing Krem­lin inter­ests and attempt­ing to influ­ence local pol­i­tics. The case under­scores how ROC cler­gy are some­times deployed as strate­gic actors in geopo­lit­i­cal hotspots.
• Swe­den: ROC church­es locat­ed near crit­i­cal infrastructure—such as air­ports and ener­gy facilities—have come under intel­li­gence scruti­ny. Swedish author­i­ties respond­ed by with­draw­ing pub­lic fund­ing from Moscow-linked parish­es due to espi­onage con­cerns. This illus­trates how state actors are now active­ly reassess­ing the risks posed by Russ­ian reli­gious institutions.
• Czech Repub­lic: Czech intel­li­gence inves­ti­ga­tions led to the expul­sion of a Russ­ian Ortho­dox cler­ic accused of pro­mot­ing seces­sion­ist move­ments with the back­ing of Russ­ian state actors. This exam­ple rein­forces the pat­tern of ROC cler­gy par­tic­i­pat­ing in efforts to desta­bi­lize nation­al uni­ty and under­mine pro-West­ern orientation.

Hybrid Warfare and Patriotic Indoctrination

Beyond pro­pa­gan­da and espi­onage, the ROC is also impli­cat­ed in hybrid war­fare and sub­ver­sion. It is used to sow divi­sion with­in West­ern soci­eties, ampli­fy anti-West­ern sen­ti­ment, and dis­rupt demo­c­ra­t­ic process­es. The Church’s mes­sag­ing is designed not only to uplift Russia’s image but to under­mine the legit­i­ma­cy of lib­er­al demo­c­ra­t­ic norms. As report­ed by GIOR, the align­ment between the Church and the Krem­lin is fur­ther under­scored by Patri­arch Kirill’s endorse­ment of the war effort and the pro­mo­tion of “tra­di­tion­al val­ues”, which serves to ral­ly con­ser­v­a­tive move­ments in the West and ampli­fy Russ­ian nar­ra­tives about defend­ing Chris­t­ian civ­i­liza­tion against per­ceived West­ern lib­er­al­ism. In occu­pied regions of Ukraine, ROC cler­gy have been doc­u­ment­ed pass­ing troop loca­tions to Russ­ian forces and sup­port­ing the occu­pa­tion. These actions show that the Church’s role is not mere­ly rhetor­i­cal. The ROC also engages in patri­ot­ic indoc­tri­na­tion, pub­lish­ing mate­ri­als and con­duct­ing activ­i­ties designed to instill loy­al­ty to the Russ­ian state and mil­i­tary among its fol­low­ers, rein­forc­ing its func­tion as a tool of nation­al mobilization.

Strategic Convergence of Religion and Geopolitics

These oper­a­tions demon­strate Moscow’s strate­gic inter­twin­ing of reli­gious iden­ti­ty with geopo­lit­i­cal aims, fos­ter­ing divi­sion and imped­ing West­ern inte­gra­tion efforts in tar­get­ed soci­eties. The ROC’s posi­tion at the inter­sec­tion of faith, iden­ti­ty, and pow­er makes it unique­ly potent as both a mes­sen­ger and a mech­a­nism of influ­ence. Through its coor­di­na­tion with state actors, exploita­tion of dias­po­ra net­works, and appeal to cul­tur­al­ly con­ser­v­a­tive audi­ences, the Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church oper­ates not only as a reli­gious insti­tu­tion but as a glob­al polit­i­cal actor advanc­ing the Kremlin’s long-term strate­gic objectives.

External References

1. Euro­pean Par­lia­ment Research Ser­vice: Rus­si­a’s war on Ukraine: The Krem­lin’s use of reli­gion as a for­eign pol­i­cy tool
   https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2022/729430/EPRS_ATA(2022)729430_EN.pdf

2. CEPA: The Russ­ian Church — Spread­ing Putin’s Poison
   https://cepa.org/article/the-russian-church-spreading-putins-poison/

3. France 24: The church by the air­port: Inside Rus­si­a’s sus­pect­ed spy activ­i­ties in Sweden
   https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20250704-the-church-by-the-airport-inside-russia-s-suspected-spy-activities-in-sweden

4. Radio Free Europe/Radio Lib­er­ty: Bul­gar­ia expels Russ­ian Archi­man­drite Vassian
   https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-expels-russian-archimandrite/32221883.html

5. Jamestown Foun­da­tion: Moscow Uses Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church as Covert For­eign Pol­i­cy Tool in Ukraine and the West
   https://jamestown.org/program/moscow-uses-russian-orthodox-church-as-covert-foreign-policy-tool-in-ukraine-and-the-west/

6. UNITED24 Media: Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church: What Does It Hide?
   https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/secret-fraternities-a-nuclear-plume-a-temple-of-war-and-espionage-globally-what-does-the-russian-orthodox-church-hide-927

7. Hack­Y­our­Mom: Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church Espi­onage in Europe
   https://hackyourmom.com/en/kibervijna/shpygunstvo-rpcz-u-yevropi-religiya-chy-rozvidka/

8. Mol­far: Does the Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church Spy in Europe?
   https://molfar.com/en/blog/rpc-shpygue-u-evropi-doslidzhennya-molfar-chastyna-persha

9. Aspe­nia Online: Under­stand­ing Russ­ian dis­in­for­ma­tion strate­gies inside and out­side the country
   https://aspeniaonline.it/understanding-russian-disinformation-strategies-inside-and-outside-the-country/

10. Wil­son Cen­ter: How Moscow Uses the Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church as a Tool to Sup­press Reli­gious Freedom
    https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/how-moscow-uses-russian-orthodox-church-tool-suppress-religious-freedom

11. GLOBSEC: For­eign Malign Influ­ence in Cen­tral Europe and the West­ern Balkans
    https://www.globsec.org/sites/default/files/2022–02/Foreign-malign-influence-in-Central-Europe-and-the-Western-Balkans.pdf

12. The Par­lia­ment Mag­a­zine: Esto­nia takes final steps to split church from Russia
    https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/security-fears-over-russian-church-have-no-easy-answer