This chapter examines the intertwining of the Russian Orthodox Church with state power and its implications on modern life and geopolitical tensions, particularly with Ukraine. It discusses the historical relationship between the church and the KGB, highlighting how the church has been used as a tool for propaganda and control, while also addressing the church's current conservative stances and the challenges that arise from them. The chapter explores the contrasting spiritual landscapes of Ukraine and Russia, revealing the complexities of loyalty, ideology, and the impact of domestic issues like women's rights in the political narrative.
The historian Timothy Snyder is famous for his work on the horrors of the 20th century and his call to arms to fight against tyranny in the 21st. Now, in ‘On Freedom’ he explores what liberty really means. He challenges the idea that this is freedom ‘from’ state or other obligations, and explores how across the US, Russia and Ukraine, true liberty is the freedom ‘to’ thrive and take risks.
The Ukrainian poet, Oskana Maksymchuk also considers the question of freedom in her collection, Still City, a book that started as a poetic journal on the eve of the Russian invasion in 2021. The fragmentary poems detail the everyday moments amid the violence and fear and precarity of a country at war.
The Russian Orthodox Church has managed to survive the turbulent history of the country, from tsarist demagoguery to Soviet atheism, and is now free to flourish under Vladimir Putin. But in her new book, The Baton and the Cross, the journalist Lucy Ash reveals how the religion has formed an unholy alliance with politics, state security and big money.
Producer: Katy Hickman