Russian Orthodox Church’s Wartime Public Diplomacy in Ukraine
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- ISBN 9781041289845
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 26 Jun 2026
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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This book reveals how the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has systematically transformed religious messaging into a strategic tool of warfare, supporting Russian military objectives while undermining Ukrainian resistance.
It introduces an innovative interdisciplinary framework merging faith diplomacy with wartime public diplomacy theory, enhanced by framing analysis. This pioneering approach offers scholars a powerful new lens for examining religious communication during armed conflicts worldwide and provides rare insights into grassroots clerical collaboration with Russian forces. Drawing from extensive analysis across eight Ukrainian dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate, the author documents how local priests and monks actively supported Russian militant operations through carefully crafted theological messaging.
It will be essential reading for scholars of religious studies, war studies, international relations, and anyone examining the intersection of faith and geopolitical conflict.
Andis Kudors was an executive director of the Centre for East European Policy Studies (2006–2019). His research interests include Russian compatriot policy, sharp power, propaganda, disinformation, Russian Orthodoxy, and informational warfare. Kudors is an author of many analytical articles about Russian foreign policy and Latvian security. He was Fulbright Scholar at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC, USA (2014–2015) and Visiting Scholar at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University) (2021–2022). In 2021 Andis Kudors was appointed Commander of The Cross of Recognition by the President of the Republic of Latvia Egils Levits for his contribution to the research of Latvian national security. Andis Kudors is author of the book Russia and Latvia: A Case of Sharp Power, Routledge, London, 2024.
