Holy Smoke: how Russia is waging Holy War in Ukraine
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Dr Yuri Stoyanov – of SOAS university in London – joins Damian Thompson to reflect on the religious dimensions of the war once again. The theological gulf between Russia and Ukraine is perhaps comparable to the political one and, for now, seems insurmountable, with the war increasingly being framed in some spheres as a 'Holy War'. You have to stretch back to the First World War to find a war within Christendom framed in these terms, but what effect is this having on the family of Orthodox churches across Europe and the Middle East? And how can we better understand this strand of Russian 'jihadism'?
Plus, what has the impact of the Papal succession been? And, how have other religious groups – such an estimated 2 million Buddhists – reacted in Russia?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Holy Smoke, the Spectator's Religion podcast. I'm Damien Thompson. |
| 0:13.1 | In January this year, the Press Bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service issued an official statement |
| 0:20.2 | condemning the devil incarnate and |
| 0:23.2 | Antichrist in a casso. Now, there was a time when a statement like that coming from the |
| 0:29.7 | Orthodox world would almost certainly be directed at the Pope of Rome. But in fact, the Russian |
| 0:35.2 | intelligence service and we can assume patriarchal of Moscow were describing |
| 0:41.8 | the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, an indication of just how devastating |
| 0:49.5 | the split created by the war in Ukraine has been for the Orthodox world, which is now splintered |
| 0:56.8 | as never before. Last year, I talked to Dr. Yuri Stoyanov, or SOAS, about the developing |
| 1:03.9 | situation, and I'm delighted that he can join us again. Yuri, welcome to Holy Smoke. |
| 1:10.5 | Thank you so much. You've written a fascinating paper |
| 1:13.5 | entitled Legitimizing a New Ethics and Theology of Holy War, the Russian Orthodox Church's |
| 1:20.7 | path justifying Russia's war against Ukraine. And what I found very interesting in this paper was all the evidence that |
| 1:30.2 | dating back, well, at least to the end of communism and the rise of Putin, long before the |
| 1:38.1 | invasion of Ukraine, which was exactly four years ago, the Russian Orthodox Church was politicizing its message and, as your |
| 1:47.6 | paper says, developing a notion of holy war, which is at odds with the Byzantine tradition |
| 1:56.1 | dating back to the early years of the church. I wonder if you could explain that for us. |
| 2:00.7 | Yes. What has been happening since the early years of the church. I wonder if you could explain that for us. |
| 2:07.7 | Yes. What has been happening since the early 1990s is an increasing collaboration between the secular state authorities of the Russian Federation and the clerical elites of the |
| 2:15.1 | Russian Orthodox Church accompanied also by close cooperation in the military sphere. |
| 2:21.3 | So this has been increasing in the new millennium, and particularly during the time of the |
| 2:30.3 | and after the annexations of the Crimea, and the first actual pronouncements related to |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.