What is the religious dimension of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Is this a Religious War? He quotes a biography of Putin that discusses the Russian Orthodox Church and the concept of “holy Russia.” From Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy, Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin (2015) [my paragraphing]: The Orthodox Church still comes in a package with Putin and the state, even if the modern presidential base of power is secular. In Putin’s system and formulation, it is Rus’ (Russia) that is divine (svyataya or holy). The president is certainly not divine or holy. The stress on svyataya Rus’ picks up on another older Russian Orthodox and tsarist tradition, where Rus’ refers to something larger than the idea of the Russian state and people and encompasses the entire Russian orthodox religious community. Before the Russian Revolution, citizens of the empire who were baptized as Russian Orthodox Christians were seen to be Orthodox (pravoslavnyy) and therefore Russian (russkiy), no matter wher...