Putin’s unholy alliance and the sins of the Russian Orthodox church

Travel the length and breadth of Russia – as you could fairly easily before the outbreak of war last February – and you will find, in many cities, a museum called Russia: My History. These institutions have a clear message for visitors. Empire-building luminaries like Ivan the Terrible and the despots Nicholas I and Alexander III are depicted as heroes. Vladimir Putin is also exalted. The territorial gains strong rulers can achieve are something to celebrate, as is the state religion they aggressively propagate. But what many visitors don’t know about these modern-day monuments to expansionism is the hidden hand that helped curate them: the Russian Orthodox church.

Orthodox patriarch Metropolitan Tikhon, a close friend to Putin and rumoured to be his spiritual confessor, partly oversaw the organisation of these state historical museums. In most countries, the Christian church exists to win souls for Christ. But in Russia, the established church has an additional motive: to endorse Putin.