The Russian Orthodox Church plays a key role in Russian information wars, both in Russia, before and during the full-scale war in Ukraine, and across numerous countries in the West and beyond. Its value added is societal trust and social capital based on religion that significantly amplifies the efficacy of its propaganda. More importantly, the ROC is a wing of a Russian spy network consisting of priests and parishioners. According to the research by Le Matin Dimanche and Sonntag Zeitung, the current Patriarch Kirill, worked for the KGB in Geneva under the pseudonym « Mikhailov » during the Soviet era collecting information about members of the World Council of Churches to influence their attitude toward the Soviet Union.
Author: Daryna-Maryna Patiuk, Director of Communications, Eastern Circles, in partnership with Diplomatie magazine.
This article is available on the Eastern Circles website.
The French version is available here.
