The Most Important Thing to Understand about Putin’s Russia

Vladimir Putin may be President of the Russian Federation, but, for all the talk about the various events since he came to power, perhaps the most significant change to have taken place under Putin’s tenure is the elevation in power of the Russian Orthodox Church.

According to the Pew Research Forum the number of Russians who identify as “Orthodox Christian” has risen dramatically, from 37% in 1991 to 72% in 2008, with the latter figure holding steady closer to today. Moreover, 69% of Russians believe their culture, including its religion, is “superior to other cultures.” Putin may be the leader of the Russian Federation, but many in the United States have overlooked the role that the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is playing in Russia’s current political climate. It is vital to understand the ROC’s political role, particularly given its recent reemergence as a major social institution and influencer in Russia—often working in coalition with Putin’s government.

How—after many decades of Soviet persecution of Russian Orthodoxy—have Russians come back to boldly embrace their pre-Communist faith? Why is the Putin-led state so concerned with protecting and working with the church? For American policymakers and non-government officials alike, the key to understanding Russia begins with engaging with the basics of Russia’s church-state situation—and how their close relationship, known as symphonia, plays into the nation’s domestic and foreign policy.

But it wasn’t until the meteoric rise of Vladimir Putin and the enthronement of Kiril I, Patriarch of Moscow and All the Rus’ (the first patriarch elected under Putin’s rule), that the ties between church and state grew dramatically. The ROC now publicly embraces the state, while the Kremlin wears Orthodoxy as the make-up for Russia’s new face to the world.