Russia spent 24 years trying to ban Valentine's Day, but the effort failed. Now, a Duma deputy wants to rebrand it as the "Day of the Stuffed Toy" and use it as a pipeline to funnel couples toward marriage and childbearing. russiareligionwatch.substack.com/p/the-day-of...

New bid for Orthodox reconciliation in Ukraine as winter strikes continue:

Russia’s Religious Lobby in Washington and the Battle Over the Ecumenical Patriarchate:

Jubilee 2033: Rift between Moscow and Constantinople patriarchates threatens ecumenical progress -

Russia is seeing a rise in "family education", or homeschooling. Two distinct populations are turning to the practice: conservative families seeking faith-based education, and liberal families fleeing propaganda. 1/4

Kremlin uses Epstein files to push narrative of Russia’s ‘moral superiority’:

In a St. Petersburg school, a priest placed a crown on a student's head and explained that losing one's chastity was like dropping it in mud. She received a badge: "For a Chaste Lifestyle." This is now federal education policy. 1/2

Russian Orthodox Church In US Sees 'Amazing Change' As New Converts Join:

I will go to my grave saying Palin was the prototype.

The mainstream media do seem to be covering Ukraine less. I've gathered some useful voices from inside the country here, if it helps.

No one likes when I say this, but the Obama admin really is responsible for a lot of what is happening now with Ukraine, and even Trump, since weakness towards russia enabled them to manipulate the 2016 elections. If their economy had been smashed via sanctions or military force, we may not be here.

Is anybody ever gonna take a step back and realize the "Russia Russia Russia" people — derided as lunatic wine moms — were actually underplaying the foreign influence stuff, and the loud people who kept insisting it was all fake are now saying Jeffrey Epstein was kind of a cool guy?

Russian schools are asking teenagers to explain "the goal of chastity" for their family and identify what "difficulties" prevent them from achieving it. One helpful example: "absence of need for spiritual love." This is real. 1/3

🧵 The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) has issued a formal appeal to Orthodox clergy and faithful in Ukraine who remain under the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate calling for renewed dialogue to overcome church divisions. 1/7

Russian Orthodox blogger and Ukraine war veteran jailed for long-term molestation of minor:

In a searing interview, the well-known Russian scholar and former church insider calls Kirill’s organization “a cheap para-religious cult” serving Putin.

Moscow Leverages Extremism in the Balkans: http://jamestown.org...

Russian Orthodox Bishop Blames War in Ukraine on Occult Practices and Abortions:

Abortions, Evil Spirits and the Occult Causing War in Ukraine, Russian Orthodox Bishop Claims. 1/2

On Feb 2, Russia's Ministry of Justice filed to designate the Russian LGBT Network and Vykod (Exit) as "extremist" in St. Petersburg City Court. Hearings are set for Feb 24: closed session, classified secret. Both are among Russia's oldest LGBTQ+ civil society organizations. 1/6

Priest of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate detained in Kharkiv for Russian propaganda:

A survey in Karelian schools asks students about their family's "chastity goals" and "difficulties" in cultivating purity. My new Substack piece examines the institutional architecture of how ideology reaches classrooms. russiareligionwatch.substack.com/p/bureaucrat...

Russian Orthodox Church receives official status in Cameroon:

The ROC is once again proposing a husband's consent requirement for abortion patients. A similar proposal was previously rejected in the Duma:

Russia plans ‘Sacred Path’ project to attract Muslim tourists:

The only official Anglican congregation in Moscow, Russia, has suspended worship services amid a reported internal dispute over who controls the church.

Ilya Sigida (Hieromonk Jonah), assistant to Archbishop Viktor Pivovarov of the Russian Orthodox Church in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, remains on house arrest under charges of discrediting the army for critical publication about Putin:

The Russian Orthodox Church is openly shaping a cult around Putin, presenting him as the bearer of a special divine mission.

Russian Forces Are Liquidating the Catholic Church in Occupied Ukraine ewtn.co.uk/article-r...

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) casts the Ecumenical Patriarch as a Western proxy, treating Baltic church independence as a security threat and turning an Orthodox dispute into an intelligence confrontation.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in TA NEA Weekend: "Why should I fear Russian propaganda?"

Ukrainian churches voice ‘indignation’ as Russia strikes Kyiv during talks:

New Jersey Metropolitan issues strong and unequivocal statement condemning what he described as “unacceptable and gravely slanderous statements” made by Russian state agencies against Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

A century in the Siberian wilderness: the Old Believers who time forgot:

The decline in the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate — which is under Kremlin control — has provoked a furious reaction from Russian propaganda:

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Slams Russia for “Satanic” War in Ukraine:

Metropolitan of Derkoi: Russia’s attack on Ecumenical Patriarchate was brotherless and disrespectful:

Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Question White House Meeting with Russian Orthodox Clergy Who Are Lobbyists for Putin:

The Smashers of the Orthodox Church:

Metropolitan of Derkoi: Russia’s attack on Ecumenical Patriarchate was brotherless and disrespectful:

OPINION: Russian Orthodox Propaganda Takes Aim at Patriarch Bartholomew, Calling Him ‘Antichrist in Cassock’:

How Armenia Opened the Door to Putin’s Weaponized Orthodox Christianity:

Cyprus Admits Years of Russian Influence—and Details How It’s Cutting Moscow Off:

Russian secret service labels Ecumenical Patriarch ‘Constantinople Antichrist’ in scathing attack:

Pay to pray: How the Russian Orthodox Church is making faith more expensive.

My new Substack piece, "The Liturgy of the Womb", explores how the ROC has embedded state demographic goals directly into the structure of the Divine Liturgy: russiareligionwatch.....

The Ecumenical Patriarchate on Tuesday rejected as “fake news” a virulent, personal attack launched against Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) the day before.

Ukrainian Orthodox Church Wiped Out in Temporarily Occupied Crimea, Priest Forced to Flee:

As 2025 draws to a close, nearly half of Russia’s regions have implemented active abortion bans. Read more on Russia's biopolitical testing grounds in my latest Substack post: