Clarion

Russia’s Religio-Political Factor in Arctic Re-Establishment – Cyril Sweetville

Jul 15, 2026 |

Overview

When considering how the Kremlin views the current state of Russian Arctic security, it is necessary to understand the tri-union of the country’s history, theology, and security as a factor applicable to any risk analysis. Russia’s religio-political relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is rooted in a historical interpretation of the Orthodox Christian presence from the tenth century, through the period of the Russian Empire, to the current situation in Russia. Furthermore, the Kremlin’s relationship with the ROC can be likened to the time of Theodosius I, when the Roman emperor declared Christianity the official state religion. Russian Christianity arose from Olga of Kyiv’s conversion to Christianity in the tenth century.1 Missionaries spread Christianity throughout the Kyivan Rus, including the northern frontier, during the reign of tsars. When the Bolsheviks transformed Russia into the Soviet Union, they secularized this mission into one of industrialization and militarization. Contemporary Russia has regarded the Arctic simultaneously as a sacred Christian inheritance and an economic lifeline. Russia has taken a strategic religio-political view, with the ROC utilized by the Russian government for religio-political purposes.2

Although the early ROC’s position was that of sincere conversion to Christianity in order to save souls, it also had an inadvertent political effect which unified the Kyivan Rus under one empire. The Bolsheviks later secularized and militarized the message, which united the post-Soviet ROC and the Kremlin. This is how Christian nationalism in the Russian historical context was achieved, with the Arctic included in its objectives.

Understanding the ROC’s outlook on salvation and its need to missionize the Russian Arctic is necessary in any religio-political analysis, as the current theological considerations are intertwined with the Kremlin’s goals of keeping a historical Russia united.3 It is well known that the ROC, under Patriarch Kiril, does not want Western Christianity expressed in or near Russia. President Putin supports this position, as we have seen with the Ukraine War. There are theological considerations that Putin inadvertently supports with respect to social issues. Both men fear Russia will become liberalized and distant from Russian Christianity’s birthplace,4 which is considered to be Kyiv (current day Ukraine). This article is intended to provide a cursory look at the link between the ROC and the Kremlin, and their joint e􀆯ort to securitize Russia’s Arctic as a part of keeping Russia unified, with especial consideration of Patriarch Kirill and President Putin’s shared KGB history.

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NOTES 1 Christian Raffensperger and Donald Ostrowski, The Ruling Families of Rus: Clan, Family and Kingdom (London: Reaktion Books, 2023), 309. 2 Minna Ålander, “Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts: Lessons from the Nordic-Baltic Region on Countering Russian Gray Zone Aggression,” Carnagie Endowment for International Peace, last modified November 14, 2024, accessed 1 December 2025, https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/11/russia-gray-zone-aggression-balticnordic. 3 Anders Strindberg, “An Overview of the Russian-Orthodox Church’s Moscow Patriarchate as an Agent of Influence,” Swedish Defence Research Agency, last modified May 12, 2022, accessed December 1, 2025, https://www.foi.se/en/foi/reports/reportsummary. html?reportNo=FOI+Memo+7865. 4 Robert F. Worth, “Clash of the Patriarchs,” The Atlantic, May 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/russia-ukraine-orthodox-christianchurch- bartholomew-kirill/677837/.  

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